Testimonies & Feedback

from Clients & Collaborators

“We love her drive to challenge the system in a healthy collaborative way that is informative and proactive way”

“No body runs a workshop like Serena! Attending one of her sessions is guaranteed to be filled with kai and fun!”

“Serena is the idea generator and a great teach of her design craft”

“I haven’t seen anybody work as hard nor as quickly as Serena. She goes above and beyond in her role and delivers such high quality pieces of work in tight timeframes”

“Serena’s knowledge and absolute dedication to designing a great experience for our customers. She has brought the programme along on the ride of Service Design and has shown us immense value”

“I have had the pleasure of working with and learning from Serena Lal over the last 3 years. We both joined the board of directors for the New Zealand Games festival in 2021. Serena bought a wealth of experience in governance to the table and has always been very generous in the way she has shared that knowledge with those around her. Never shy about putting in the hard work Serena championed a work program to help formalize the vision and values held by the NZGF organisation. Facilitating many workshops (centred on design) with both the board and wider team along the way. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Serena to any team, she is something special.”

— Keir Rice, Staff Technical Artist - Niantic
Board Member & Treasure at New Zealand Games Festival.

“I have had the pleasure of working with Serena for almost a year now.  In that time, I have been impressed with the broad range of at her disposal along with her core specialisation in Design Leadership.  Serena is a hardworking, determined and innovate leader who can bring all of this expertise together to help breakdown complex problems within complex systems to develop simple solutions that include the voices of closest to the need.  Serena is a wonderful and supportive teammate who actively contributes towards her team and community whilst always finding the time to support the wellbeing of those around her.  I am personally looking forward to seeing where Serena takes her career and the exciting mahi that she chooses to engage with”

— Phil Elcome, Future Direction Programme Manager, Oranga Tamariki

“Serena excelled as the design lead on the Te Aorerekura Court Support Service project. She adeptly guided the design team to focus on the project's objectives and purpose. Additionally, Serena assumed project manager responsibilities when needed, ensuring timely delivery of outputs and keeping all stakeholders informed and engaged during changes.

She provided invaluable support in helping the wider team make sense of the design process and navigate inherent uncertainties, particularly beneficial when working with stakeholders unfamiliar with co-design. Serena effectively managed engagement with both external and internal stakeholders of a multi-government agency project, ensuring their voices were honoured.

I appreciate Serena's insightful guiding questions, which helped me make sense of my work and progress towards the project's agreed outcomes. As a facilitator, she ensured everyone was heard and kept discussions on topic, even when they veered off the agreed agenda. I gained valuable insights from observing her work.

Serena prioritised the well-being of the design team throughout the project, especially in the challenging space of sexual violence. She created space for regular debriefs, team chats, and check-ins at the start of meetings to ensure everyone felt heard.

Her extensive knowledge of Te Tiriti, anti-racism, and system change was extremely valuable in advocating for tamariki, rangatahi, and whānau experiencing institutional racism. Serena's efficiency and wealth of experience enabled her to create tools and documents that facilitated clear processes and systems, instrumental in leading complex projects and programmes smoothly.

Serena is a visionary leader with creativity, proven experience, connections, and a vast skill set to drive effective, inspiring system and social change in government and community settings alike.”

— Design Team member, Oranga Tamariki

“I reached out to Serena having seen and been inspired by her work over the years to be a speaker for the national PAPSN March Speaker series. Serena is a powerful presence in the professional space, she is unafraid to speak out and utilise all of her experience and knowledge to advocate for better outcomes for others. The session that featured Serena as a speaker was a huge success that led to an uptick of people joining the PAPSN network. Serena spoke candidly about her experiences in public service and generously shared her wisdom and learnings from her career. I am confident that she inspired those who attended and I am appreciative that she gave her time to us. I would highly recommend Serena for any role or speaking event.”

—Cynthia Khan, Working group member, PAPSN March Speaker series 2024

“Serena organised and facilitated a group interview/talanoa with Girmitya women peers, as part of a Te Papa Press project on Aotearoa Asian histories. She is a consummate professional with heart, able to organise quickly, hold space for sensitive topics, and bring people together with skill and empathy”

— Tze Ming Mok, Asian Aotearoa histories book - Te Papa Press

“I've been very fortunate to work with Serena organising several hui. She is exceptional in her relationship-building, especially holding space and guiding people through to conflict resolution. She provided me with a lot of support, especially concrete steps to resolving cross-cultural and intersectional differences. She is a trusted person to facilitate difficult conversations, bridging age, gender and ethnicities. Serena is also a very competent speaker, conveying complex ideas simply, including on Asian histories and the impact of colonisation (see here: https://www.asianlegalnetwork.org.nz/past-events/hui-22). I have also consulted Serena on a discrete scoping project in relation to cultural competency of management in the education sector for Asian employees. Serena offered a wealth of knowledge and practical experience in designing community and people-centred systems, research and processes. Serena is a person of high integrity in the work I have seen. I continue to highly value her thinking, passion and advice.”

— Darryn Ooi, External Secretary, Asian Legal Network

“Working with Serena was such a pleasure. Serena brings such informed and inclusive perspective to her work. I always know that I will walk away from a conversation with Serena having had my mind or my perspective broadened. She is passionate and creative in the ways she approaches her work and I would very much enjoy the opportunity to work with her again”

— Elizabeth Bellamy, Senior Business Analyst (Contractor)