Brad Jackson is the Programme Director for the CELF's  Elevate Leadership Programme and is Professor of Leadership and Governance at the Waikato Management School based at the Hamilton campus of the University of Waikato. In the Waikato MBA he co-teaches three courses: Governance and Responsible Engagement, Global Business and Contemporary and Future Issues for Leaders. 

Prior to joining Waikato University, Brad was the Professor of Social Innovation within the Department of Business Strategy and Innovation in the Griffith Business School based Brisbane, Australia. He also served as Program Director for the Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Management and Director of the Policy Innovation Hub. He continues as an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University.

Brad was Professor of Public and Community Leadership at Victoria University of Wellington where he also served as the Head of School of Government and the Head of School of Management.  At the University of Auckland Business School, he was Co-Director of the New Zealand Leadership Institute and the Fletcher Building Education Trust Chair in Leadership.

Brad has published seven books—Management Gurus and Management Fashions, The Hero Manager, Organisational Behaviour in New Zealand, A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Leadership, Demystifying Business Celebrity, Revitalising Leadership and The Board as the Nexus Between Leadership and Governance. He has also co-edited the Sage Handbook of Leadership and Major Works in Leadership. He is a former co-editor of the journal, Leadership, and the former Vice-Chair of the Akina Foundation and the International Leadership Association.

In the Waikato MBA Brad’s current research explores the inter-relationship between leadership and governance practices in promoting and sustaining social and economic innovation and the application of place-based approaches to foster cross-sectoral leadership development and education.

Brad moved to the Waikato from Brisbane in March 2020, the day before the first COVID Level 4 Lockdown. He and his wife, Cristina, have become strongly attached to their new home. They are dedicated to enhancing the region’s social, economic and environmental well-being.