Dame Professor Farah Palmer has represented New Zealand on the World Stage as a member of the Black Ferns Rugby Team, and captained the team to several World Cup victories before retiring as a player and developing her academic and research career at Massey University. She taught and conducted research within the Business School faculty (particularly focusing on leadership from a wāhine Māori lens) and then took on a role in the Office of the DVC Māori as the Pou Ākonga/Executive Director of Māori Student Success. She has held various governance roles including with SportNZ and NZ Rugby (2016-2024) where she was part of the successful bidding team to host the Rugby World Cup 2021 (played in 2022) that the Black Ferns won. Farah’s spheres of influence tend to be in sport, education, and leadership. Her most recent governance roles include Pūhoro (a STEMM initiative supporting rangatahi Māori to consider STEM and Mātauranga Māori), Women in Sport Aotearoa (WiSPA), and the World Rugby Council.
