Best known as the founder of the Student Volunteer Army, Sam Johnson ONZM has built a career turning collective energy into meaningful action. He is a strategic leader and entrepreneur recognised for his ability to mobilise people, organisations and ideas around shared purpose.
Sam is Projects Director at STILL, where he manages internal projects, startups and ideas contributing to the STILL 100. His work brings together governance, community, entrepreneurship and design, with a focus on creating initiatives that deliver long-term social and commercial value.
A Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors, Sam brings significant governance experience alongside his work in community leadership and social impact. In 2023, he was recognised as the Institute of Directors’ Auckland Emerging Director of the Year.
Sam is also a founding Trustee of Paererewā, the 1,000 Year Bench Project, an ambitious model of place-based philanthropy, design and long-term civic investment. The initiative has a vision to establish 1,000 thoughtfully designed places for reflection across Aotearoa New Zealand, creating spaces that encourage people to pause, connect and consider what matters for future generations. For business and civic audiences, Paererewā offers a practical example of long-term thinking, bringing together design, finance, history and community stewardship.
Sam’s disaster leadership experience continues to resonate across Australasia. He founded the Student Volunteer Army following the Christchurch earthquakes, establishing a model for mobilising volunteers quickly and effectively in response to community need. Today, SVA operates across hundreds of New Zealand secondary schools, with its model also extending into Australia through programs in Tasmania and South Australia. During the 2025 Nelson Tasman flood response, 300 volunteers supported 110 households, demonstrating how established community mobilisation models can scale during times of crisis.
Sam’s contribution to community leadership has been recognised through numerous honours, including Young New Zealander of the Year, Communicator of the Year and the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award. In 2026, he was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to the community and youth.
Whether working in governance, strategy, community leadership or disaster response, Sam helps teams and organisations identify what matters, bring people together around a shared purpose and turn that purpose into action with lasting impact.
Talking Points
Build Your Own Army!
Sam Johnson famously mobilised an army-for-good of 11,000 students to respond to the New Zealand earthquakes. Sam took social media and a clear need to mobilize an army' of helpers to solve a real problem. But how do you keep a good idea going and how do you integrate small ideas into local institutions, businesses and everyday behaviours? Sam's journey is filled with real, raw and practical approaches to leadership and life. His team's work has attracted everyone from Prince Harry to Hillary Clinton to the Parkland Students to visit and learn how a group of students turned a disaster into a national movement that has now has 2% of the county's population involved. Build Your Own Army!
Who this is for: Sam is most popular within the infrastructure, human resources, insurance, real estate, health care, sales or government industries given the direct relevance his work has to these sectors.
- Education and training industry events including teachers, principals, school supervisors, education department staffers, consultants, trainees
- Environment and waste conferences including local government, waste mitigation, utility, safety, three-waters, storm mitigation, disaster resilience, disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness, FEMA, Fire Service, Volunteer Sector, emergency response sector
- Economic and community development at the national, state, regional, and local levels.
- Public service, service designers, public sector managers
- Hospital, medical, community health, nursing, health leadership events, health technology conferences
- People
- Agriculture or rural-focused events - events that attract people from smaller towns who are worried about the changing nature of communities
Key Takeaways:
1. Culture and leadership: culture is built by sharing responsibility for risk. Giving teams permission to execute is the most essential element to complex leadership challenges.
2. Strategy and action: You need three people with a combination of five skills to make anything happen: Vision, Plan, Promote, Do, Review.
3. How to build movements for impact, not empires for ego.
Excellent energy, positivity and engagement of the audience. ... keep reading Wellington Regional Primary Principals Association
Sam connected and engaged with everybody in the audience. He has some great experiences and stories to share that get to the hearts, minds and souls of the audience. Well done Sam!
Sam was a delight to work with and we absolutely loved his presentation. Sam took time to come and mix and mingle with our delegates prior to his presentation the following morning. He was interested to get to know people and learn more about our industry group. Sam was a fantastic speaker. He was articulate, professional and his story was inspiring. Sam has the ability to convey a very human story with a business message. He was warm, funny, and he is a very special young man that will succeed at whatever he chooses to do.
