Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora a mua.
Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead.
Inspired by the idea that senior women could “do more, reach further, push boundaries, and explore new opportunities to benefit our communities,” Jane Cunliffe, Jane Sweeney, and Faye Langdon founded the idea of a senior women’s network in Aotearoa.
Global Women launched as a membership-based non-profit in July 2009 with 75 members.
Breakthrough Leaders Programme debuts, with the goal of accelerating women’s careers, fostering their leadership potential as well as provide the breakthroughs needed for women to reach executive and board level positions.
Activate leaders programme launches – serving a wider demographic of rising wāhine leaders. Designed to lift participants from middle management to the next phase of their career — Activate drives a mindset shift, inspiring their career trajectory, and helping them move from emerging to game-changing leader.
Champions for Change is established as “an initiative with a focus to embed a culture within Aotearoa New Zealand businesses that encourages a measurable step-change towards diverse leadership.” Champions created a space for business leaders to connect and ideate on building safer, more inclusive workplaces. This was later expanded into the release of annual Impact Reports. By publicly disclosing the diversity metrics of the Champion organisations, they are able to see which demographics within their workforce need more investment.
TupuToa emerged from a Global Women–led Māori and Pacific Corporate Pathways working group, created to grow Māori and Pacific leadership and connect top talent with graduate opportunities. With seed funding from Global Women and government partners, and support from major corporates, TupuToa launched in 2016 as an independent, Māori- and Pacific-led organisation.
Global Women continues expanding its membership to over 400 wāhine. The Activate Leaders Programme and Breakthrough Leaders Programme reaches 1750+ alumni. Global Women cements itself as a key thought leader in the DE&I space through advocacy campaigns, including The Motherhood Penalty campaign (2021), and The Silent Transition report (2023), advocating to close the knowledge gap on menopause in the workplace.
Elevate Leaders Programme launches in September 2025 with big success, bringing together women stepping into enterprise-level roles. Curated to deliver a practical, hands-on learning experience, Elevate allows leaders to test their mettle, and sharpen the skills they already hold.
Power Circle was announced in November 2025 – a network connecting wāhine leaders across Aotearoa. Offered to partner organisations and programme alumni, Power Circle deepens the relationship between Global Women members, and the wider community of rising and established wāhine leaders across Aotearoa.
In honour of Global Women’s 15 Year Anniversary, our member Carolyn Kerr has produced a record of the early years of the organisation. Spanning 2008 to 2016, this story aims to capture the hard work and achievements of the leaders whose collective mahi drove the transformation and growth of the organisation.
