Rounding off 2023 with inspiring additions to our Global Women whānau! Embrace them warmly and discover the unique aspirations they bring to empower women.
Nicky Greville
Managing Director, Spark Foundry NZ
As a female leader with two young children, I’m passionate about leading by example and ensuring that our future generations have a much more diverse and inclusive workforce. I’m focused on ensuring that businesses incorporate policy and operationalise behaviours that support all people at all stages of their working lives. I’m also adamant that we, as leaders, must voice our strong opinions, lead public discussions and be unafraid to cover previously taboo subjects on behalf of women and many other diverse cohorts to ensure we exact positive change that shapes our societies for future generations.
Emma Powell
Chief Executive, Te Puna Aonui
My driving aspiration for all women and girls in Aotearoa New Zealand is that they live with freedom and autonomy, safe and well in their communities, homes and places of work and that from this space they are able to thrive and craft a life of meaning and purpose.
Kylie Reiri
Partner, PwC
My aspiration for women in Aotearoa New Zealand is for choice. Choice in the career they want, choice in having a family and the role they play at home, and choice in the impact they want to have in the world. If we can remove barriers so any and all options become possible, women can be free to choose for themselves.
Michelle Baillie
General Manager, SkyCity
I believe in the value of diversity and authentic leadership to achieve positive change for business, individuals, and the community.
My aspiration is for women and all people to feel valued for who they are and not to feel that they need to wear a mask or hide who they are to succeed or to fit in, particularly to fit in to work environments. While everyone can continue to learn and grow as individuals, it is the environments, processes, policies that need to change at a systemic level to enable real change to occur.
As a member of Global Women, I will continue to advocate for positive change with courage and kindness and I will continue to lead and support initiatives to level the playing field and advance positive outcomes for women.
Wendy Venter
Independent Director and Consultant, Self Employed
Having grown up in a different culture in India and benefited from progressive employers in New Zealand who supported me as a young woman juggling work and motherhood, I am a firm believer in the benefits of diversity and inclusion.
In my current roles I see every day the value that women bring to organisations. Diverse thinking and inclusive behaviour deliver richer insights, guard against groupthink and blind spots and drive better decision-making and long-term business success.
Holly Brooker
Co-Founder, Makes Sense
My aspirations for women in Aotearoa are that their skills, abilities, knowledge and offerings would be valued equally to men, in addition to being able to pursue their dreams of being a Mother. Raising a daughter of my own, my hope is that she knows her value and worth as a female, she strives for excellence and that she achieves the success she is entitled to, through her hard work.
Through my work at Makes Sense, campaigning for regulation against illegal sexual content, the issue of gender inequality is striking. This is an area where women are continually victimised, sexualised, abused and revictimised through the distribution of abuse content online. I am passionate about advocating for the protection of young people accessing illegal sexual abuse content online, so that the normalisation of sexual harm towards women and children ceases to exist.
As a child, I saw the impact of sexual abuse, and these experiences gave me a clear awareness of the vulnerability of females and children in a country where physical and sexual violence against women and children is one of the highest rates in the world. This is a huge motivation for my work in advocacy and campaigning for the safety and protection of children from sexual trauma. My mother has been a source of inspiration for me, a strong female who has overcome many setbacks to raise 3 independent and strong women, while helping her community, showing me that with hard work and determination, you can succeed and do good in the world.
Amanda Frear
Partner, EY
Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua – a Maori proverb which speaks to “I walk backwards into the future with my eyes on the past”. From this we understand that the past, the present and the future are all intertwined.
As a woman, a mother and a business leader, I aspire for women of Aotearoa New Zealand to strengthen their voice, take on more leadership roles from classroom to boardroom, to be kind and help others where we can.
The rate of change will never slow, and so our future will have many unknowns. I mentor others to embrace learning. Our mistakes can often teach us more than our successes, so taking time to reflect on what has gone before, helps us all understand better what we can take forward.
We also do not need not walk alone. For women to develop in confidence and take on leadership roles, we will always need to draw on self-belief and resilience, but in addition to our inner voice, we have our whanau, ancestors, friends and networks to support us.
Veeshayne Patuwai
CEO, Relative Limited
Kia tapu te mātāpuna
Kia ora ai Te Mana Wahine
Hei Ao Rangatira
My aspiration for wāhine is that they understand and remember who they really are. We live in a society that worships fame, unrealistic beauty standards, money, and secular success. My moemoea is that we will remember who we are and honour our identity in every choice we make. My hope is that we will know that we are born with mana; it’s who we are; it’s in our DNA. We are the catalysts of change, decision-makers, and leaders of ourselves, our whānau, our people, and our communities. My dream is that our daughters will know that they have the power to manifest anything they are committed to, and that our granddaughters will continue to sing songs of empowerment and freedom. I want wāhine to feel proud of who they are, to dream out loud, and to unapologetically BE themselves.