Lizzie Marvelly (Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue) is an award-winning writer, musician, director and creator.

Music came first, and has been her lifelong love. Discovered as a teenager, Lizzie has toured the world performing, writing and recording. She has released two top ten albums, and a top fifteen EP. Career highlights include performances at the Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House, and New Zealand anthem performances at the semi-final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

Lizzie is also well-known for her award-winning weekly column, which she wrote for the New Zealand Herald between 2016-2020. In 2018 she released her first book with HarperCollins, entitled That F Word. Her work has been published by a variety of outlets, including The Huffington Post, North and South, Canvas, and Newsroom, among others.

Lizzie created the award-winning youth media site Villainesse.com. Villainesse’s first project, consent campaign #MyBodyMyTerms went viral globally. Later, Villainesse went on to make popular teen webseries The REAL Sex Talk and The REAL Drug Talk, and a documentary for Māori Television, He Māngai Wāhine.

Villainesse was active between 2015-2021, reaching a huge and varied audience.

Lizzie is also an experienced director, having previously served on the boards of Variety – the Children’s Charity, and the New Zealand Drug Foundation. She currently serves on the board of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Film and Literature Board of Review.

She has twice been a finalist in the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards, a semi-finalist in the New Zealander of the Year Awards, and has received a Local Hero medal. She was awarded Massey University’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award, and was a finalist in the Emerging Director category of the New Zealand Women in Governance Awards.

Between 2020-2022, Lizzie was the Director of Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa Rotorua Museum. She is currently enjoying spending time on parental leave with her young daughter, whilst juggling the occasional freelance project. She lives in Auckland with her family.

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