About Us

The Mind Lab launched in 2013 to support education innovation, contemporary practice and the pursuit of highly relevant, applied knowledge in classrooms to improve education access and outcomes.

Milestones Our Founder

Our Vision
Our vision is to transform New Zealand education by aligning digital skills and capabilities with the demands of the contemporary world.
Our Mission
Our mission is to lead New Zealand education, to share knowledge, to collaborate, and to build partnerships in order to achieve sustainable, impactful change.
Key Objectives
Our key objectives are to raise student achievement, build teacher confidence, and challenge outdated legacy education practices.

Our Founder: Frances Valintine (CNZM)

Frances Valintine (CNZM) is a passionate educator and technologist. For over 20 years she has been committed to shifting education and business practice to respond to the future of work and industry. In 2013 she founded The Mind Lab, developed to empower students and educators to develop applied digital knowledge and capability.

Frances Valintine - Awards & Achievements

In the 2018 New Year Honours, Frances was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit recognising her lifetime of contribution in education and technology. In 2017 Frances received the NZ Flying Kiwi Award, inducted into the New Zealand Hi-Tech Hall of Fame and also named one of the top 3 NZ Innovators of the Year at the NZer of the Year awards.

In 2016 Frances was named one of the top 50 EdTech Educators in the World by EdTech International and was also awarded a Sir Peter Blake Leader Award. In 2015 Frances was awarded the Westpac New Zealand Woman of Influence (Innovation) and the Next New Zealand Woman of the Year (Education).

Frances sits on the board of Callaghan Innovation and is a selection advisor for the Edmund Hillary Foundation, committed to supporting a community of impact entrepreneurs, investors and changemakers to build meaningful solutions to global problems.

She holds a Master of Education Management from the University of Melbourne.

In 2013 Frances Valintine founded The Mind Lab with an aim to empower students and educators to develop applied digital knowledge and capability.
The Mind Lab started with classes for children in 2013. In 2018, The Mind Lab Auckland got a new home at MOTAT for its school groups and school holiday workshops.
Our programmes are known for being innovative and for working around busy teachers. Our Postgraduate Certificate has been all over the country, from Kerikeri to Invercargill and nearly everywhere in-between!
Over 4,500 teachers across the country have taken on the Postgraduate Certificate in Digital & Collaborative learning. That makes our programme the largest integrated Postgraduate Certificate in New Zealand.

Important Milestones

2013

The Mind Lab opens its doors in Newmarket, Auckland

2014

April

The Postgraduate Certificate in Digital & Collaborative Learning launches in Auckland

2015

The Mind Lab opens in Gisborne, Wellington and Christchurch

NEXT Foundation become sponsors of The Mind Lab, providing scholarships to thousands of teachers

144 students celebrate at The Mind Lab’s first ever graduation

2016

Mind Lab Kids, our online learning hub for 5-12 year-olds, is born

2017

The Mind Lab teams up with Teach First NZ to deliver the Master of Teaching & Education Leadership

2018

Our online course for NZ teachers, Digital Passport, is launched

Digital Passport reaches its annual target of 4,000 sign-ups in just one month

The Mind Lab Auckland gets a new home at MOTAT for its school groups and school holiday workshops

The Master of Contemporary Education is launched

The Mind Lab is registered as a Tertiary Education Organisation with TEC and NZQA

The Mind Lab launches its own ADVANCE Education Scholarship programme

Want to get in touch?

Our friendly team is here to help.