Hurting people hurt people, but healing people heal people
Gary is New Zealand’s first Ambassador for the Inner Development Goals, a growing global movement that advocates for inner development to unlock the tools and energy necessary to build a flourishing future for people and planet. Rooted in interdisciplinary science based research, the framework consists of qualities and skills that can be intentionally developed such as courage, compassion and humility. Such skills help individuals, organisations and societies become better able to tackle adaptive challenges and wicked problems.
As a former police detective and international human rights investigator Gary has seen these challenges first hand, working undercover across twelve countries to infiltrate criminal networks trafficking women and children into the multi-billion dollar commercial sex industry. His efforts in documenting cases of modern slavery have taken him into some of the darkest and most dangerous places imaginable, his work being featured in both local and international documentaries.
For legal and security reasons Gary published his story under a pseudonym, recounting his experiences in a gripping book. Following this he founded and led an anti-trafficking organisation focused on rescuing victims and prosecuting offenders in the Asia-Pacific region.
With the hard-earned wisdom from these experiences, Gary transitioned to working in the private sector where he empowered businesses to align internally and become globally recognised for best practices in sustainable development. His work sparked a collaborative movement among businesses, encouraging them to tackle shared sustainability challenges resulting in mutual benefit for all involved.
As part of a select team appointed by the New Zealand government Gary contributed his expertise to the development of a culturally aligned legislative response to modern slavery. His insights, drawn from working across government, non-profit and business sectors offer a unique perspective on the inner development necessary to facilitate positive transformation.
His message is that by developing these inner qualities people can become dangerously free, precisely because they are tethered at their centre. Gary holds degrees in Psychology, Sociology and Economic Development, an Inner MBA and is a graduate of the Centre for Action and Contemplation.
Talking Points
From Sustainable Development Goals to Inner Development Goals
“I used to think the top global environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change…but I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with these we need a spiritual and cultural transformation, and we scientists don't know how to do that.” This quote by environmental advocate Gus Speth sums up the growing global awareness that the way we are trying to solve sustainability challenges is in fact the problem. We have hit a limit to technocratic external solutions to address global problems and are not going to achieve the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in any meaningful way.From Sustainable Development Goals to Inner Development Goals
The Inner Development Goals (IDGs) embody the internal human development necessary to facilitate such spiritual and cultural transformation. The IDGs consist of 23 skills that can be learned and developed, such as self-awareness, humility, co-creation and trust. The IDG movement is a growing global network of more than 500 hubs and hosts an open source online library of resources to help individuals and organisations participate in a more sustainable future. In 2024 Gary participated in the IDG Ambassador Program in Sweden. He is a strong advocate for their integration into any sustainability effort and for the adoption of the IDG Framework through various narratives, resources and tools.
Redefining Success in Business
Every supply chain is imperfect because it is full of imperfect human beings. Proactively owning and being honest about such challenges paradoxically engenders mutual respect, strengthens supplier relationships and turns potential critics into allies. Effectively recognising, assessing and addressing those imperfections positions an organisation as a global leader of best practice. Such actions are the hallmark of great brands and the future of healthy business. Gary empowers businesses with the necessary mindset, internal culture and external communication to successfully adopt such a stance in the global marketplace. Such congruency builds trust with stakeholders leading to greater engagement, brand loyalty and long-term profitability.
Redefining Success in Business
Calling Bullshit on Corporate Social Responsibility
Modern slavery disclosure laws and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs on their own they are largely ineffective, treating the symptoms rather than tackling underlying causes. Gary invites organisations to move from a growth mindset to a benefit mindset, a lens that shifts the emphasis from being the best in the world to being the best for the world. The benefit mindset provides a compass in helping to make subtle yet profound shifts in doing business and redefining success.
Calling Bullshit on Corporate Social Responsibility
Sustainable Solutions to ESG Challenges
The combined weight of global governments and the United Nations has failed to meaningfully respond to modern slavery. It is therefore unsurprising that any organisation might also struggle to know where to begin. Gary helps to identify the ways in which corporate ego undermines and sabotages sustainable solutions. He invites organisations to consider collaborative agreements with strategically aligned and carefully screened partners, thereby expanding their influence, enhancing their leadership and strengthening their brand.
Sustainable Solutions to ESG Challenges
Inspiring Stories from Women and Girls Caught in Slavery
Gary shares the inspiring stories of many of the women and children he met while working undercover inside the dark trade of human trafficking. The courage, resilience and inherent freedom embodied by many of those he met became an example for him to emulate in his own life. Those in held in slavery have much to teach us about what it means to be truly free and their lives are a mirror in which we are invited to see ourselves in new ways. In an age when we are encouraged to believe that we are what is wrong with us, Gary invites his audience to consider what kind of life they might live in their fleeting passage through time if they were similarly liberated in the same way, deep within the heart.
Inspiring Stories from Women and Girls Caught in Slavery
A Journey through the Dark Night of the Soul
Drawing from his own experience as an undercover human rights investigator, Gary recounts his journey through burnout, depression, secondary trauma and despair. Using story and through vulnerability and authenticity he invites his audience to discover with him the life giving and lifesaving tools of self-compassion, forgiveness, mindfulness and surrender. Gary shares the inspiring discoveries he made and the transformation he experienced by walking through his wounds to the wisdom, healing and liberation that lay on the other side.
A Journey through the Dark Night of the Soul
The Death and Rebirth of the Hero.
The Death and Rebirth of the Hero.The Death and Rebirth of the Hero.
The hero’s journey is an archetypal path that we are often encouraged to follow, answering the call to adventure, overcoming obstacles, slaying the dragon, attaining knowledge and winning the victory. But what happens when the dragon slays you? What do you do when willpower, grit and resilience abandon you? Who are you when you no longer derive your identity from what you do? How do you successfully navigate grief, failure, betrayal and despair such that they leave you more whole? These questions lie at the centre of what it means to be fully human.
Humanising hard topics through vulnerability, authenticity, truth telling and by embracing both the light and the dark, Gary invites his audience to journey with him through the reality and depth of the human experience to previously unrecognised places of integration, wholeness, transformation and liberation
Topics
Video
Slavery, Faith, and the Search for Meaning with Former NZ Detective Gary Shaw
A former New Zealand detective turned international investigator, to explore his extraordinary journey from policing in Christchurch to fighting human trafficking across the globe. Gary opens up about the incredible highs and devastating lows of his mission to rescue women and children from modern slavery—and the personal cost of living as "James Bond for justice."
