About
Practitioner across human systems and AI systems.
I'm Lian Passmore. Founder of dreamstorm.
A Samoan and New Zealand European woman from Maungaturoto. Mother of five including triplets. Fourteen years inside one of New Zealand's largest energy companies designing human systems. A self-taught builder of AI products. A Master of Technological Futures.
I don't think those threads are separate. They're the same thread. People, learning, change, technology. I've spent my entire working life at the intersection of how humans engage with systems, and AI is just the most recent system I've learned to build.
A small thing that explains a lot
I talk first, write second.
That's not a workaround. That's how my mind moves. It's why dreamstorm sounds the way it does, and it's why I build the way I build.
For oral-first communities, voice isn't a preference. It's a justice decision. That insight runs through everything I make.
The full research is at lianpassmore.com/project-rise.
The honest origin story
All three of these are true at the same time. None of them is the whole story on its own.
01
The Samoan girl from Maungaturoto.
Grew up the only Samoan family in a small rural Northland town. Always in the in-between space. Not quite enough of either world. That shaped everything: who gets considered, who gets included, and what it actually means to design something for someone rather than just about them.
02
The woman who didn't wait to be ready.
Built dreamstorm while parenting toddler triplets, co-owning a business, completing a Master's degree, and teaching herself to code from scratch. Not ready. Went anyway. That's not the backstory. That's the credibility.
03
The builder who treats values as architecture.
Six AI products shipped. A Master of Technological Futures from AcademyEX. Three original theoretical contributions. The work isn't about AI for its own sake. It's about what AI can actually do when the values are baked into the structure, not bolted on as an afterthought.
Cultural grounding
I live at the intersection of multiple worlds.
Samoan and New Zealand European. Whangārei based. Mother of five including triplets.
I understand what it means to hold complexity, honour relationships, and build systems that don't just work, they respect the people they serve.
My approach is grounded in kaupapa Māori and Pacific principles: reciprocity, care, and designing with people, not for them.
Fourteen years inside the system
Before I built dreamstorm, I spent 14 years at Northpower.
I started as a systems trainer in 2010, delivering training across 13 national sites. Over the next decade I moved through instructional design, occupational health, and wellbeing, eventually leading wellbeing strategy for 1,400 staff across 14 locations.
That experience is where dreamstorm's approach to AI came from. Not from reading about it. From actually doing it.
What I built and led
Wellbeing strategy across 1,400 staff.
Designed and implemented the organisation's wellbeing strategy. Led the Mental Health Critical Risk Framework, the first psychosocial risk framework at organisational level.
Stop for Safety.
Co-designed the company-wide safety culture programme with Sentis. Full-day cultural activation events across all 14 sites, blending behavioural science with operational reality.
Peer Support Network.
Built and ran the network. Trained 50+ Mental Health First Aiders. Won the 2022 HeadFit Award for Engagement and Communication.
Wāhine Toa Network.
Founded and led a women's leadership network that grew to 100+ members.
Kaitiaki Network.
Co-founded a peer support network for wellbeing and safety culture. Grassroots, locally-led, sustainable.
Wellbeing Collective Northland.
Founded a regional cross-business wellbeing network in 2019. Grew to 30+ businesses participating.
Axonify microlearning pilot.
Led the rollout. Achieved 80%+ engagement across operational frontline teams.
eLearning and instructional design.
Built modules using Articulate Storyline 360 and Rise. Designed learning pathways for major system implementations.
Culture Amp engagement survey.
Led the platform rollout, insights gathering, and translation into leadership action.
The thread through all of it: human-centred design, systems thinking, values-led leadership. The same thread I now run through every AI build.
What I do now
After 14 years inside the system, I walked away to build something I couldn't build inside it.
dreamstorm is the result.
I work with owners of small and growing businesses across Aotearoa to make AI useful. Strategy work, retainer thinking, and bespoke build projects through the dreamstorm studio.
I'm also a tech advisor to a startup, currently working on UI/UX design alongside an experienced systems architect. Build projects move through dreamstorm one at a time.
Recognition
- • Winner, 2022 HeadFit Awards. Engagement and Communication.
- • Finalist, 2024 NZ Energy Excellence Awards.
- • Finalist, 2020 Transpower Star Awards.
- • Finalist, 2021 NZ HeadFit Awards.
- • Board Appointments Panel Member, Sport Northland (2024 to present).
- • Board Intern, Sport Northland (2021).
Qualifications
The full stack.
Master of Technological Futures.
AcademyEX, 2026. Three original theoretical contributions in ethical AI design for Indigenous and Pacific communities.
Bachelor of Applied Business Management.
Strategic Management. Otago Polytechnic, 2021.
Advanced Certificate in Change Psychology.
Precision Nutrition.
Sleep, Stress Management and Recovery Coach.
Precision Nutrition.
Experience Design Certification.
Scaling Intimacy.
Lean Change Agent Certification.
Idealeap.
HubSpot Digital Marketing Certified.
Level 4 Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety.
NorthTec.
Certificate in Money Management.
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Why dreamstorm
The AI industry is mostly building for organisations that already have everything.
Big enterprise clients. Well-funded founders. Early adopters with engineers on staff.
I'm building for the rest. The 600,000 small and growing businesses across Aotearoa who deserve the same quality of strategic thinking as anyone else. Regional owners. Māori and Pacific wāhine. Solo operators running lean. Professional services firms ready to grow.
That's who dreamstorm is for.
What you can expect when you work with me
- 01 I'll tell you the truth, even when it's not what you want to hear.
- 02 I won't perform expertise to justify a rate.
- 03 I'll refer you out when I'm not the right fit.
- 04 I'll explain things in plain language. If I have to use jargon, I'll translate.
- 05 I won't oversell. I'll undersell and overdeliver.
The longer version (what dreamstorm will and won't build, and why) is written down. Read the Charter →