Our Governance

Steering Commitee

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  Dame Therese Walsh DNZM CFInstD

  Chair

  Dame Therese Walsh is Chair of Air New Zealand Ltd and ASB Bank Ltd, and a Director of Antarctica New Zealand. She is a former Director of Contact Energy Ltd, Television New Zealand Ltd, NZX Ltd., Save the Children NZ, the Wellington Regional Stadium Trust and New Zealand Cricket. She was Pro Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington from 2018 to 2021 and served on the Council since 2016. In her professional capacity, Dame Therese was Head of New Zealand for the ICC 2015 Cricket World Cup, Chief Operating Officer for Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd and CFO for New Zealand Rugby. For her services to sport, she was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2015. She was named the supreme winner of the Women of Influence Awards 2013 and awarded a Sir Peter Blake Trust Leadership Award in 2014. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors.

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  Abby Foote CFInstD

  Abby Foote is a professional director with over 12 years’ governance experience, including publicly listed and Crown companies. Abby is currently Chair of Christchurch City Holdings Limited a Director of Freightways Limited and KMD Brands Limited. Abby’s previous governance roles include Chair of Z Energy and a director of TVNZ, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Transpower New Zealand, Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) and the New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA). Abby holds qualifications in both law and accounting with a professional background focused on corporate finance and commercial transactions. Abby is a Chartered Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

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  Caren Rangi ONZM MInstD

  Caren is a proud, Canterbury born, Hawke’s Bay raised, Cook Islander who started her career as a chartered accountant and auditor with the Office of the Auditor-General. She chose a career in governance, combined with facilitation and leadership work, so she can contribute to decision-making in areas for which she has passion. Her current governance roles include Chair of NGO Pacific Homecare and Deputy Chair, Pacific Co-operation Broadcasting Ltd (Pasifika TV). She is also member of the Boards of Massey University, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Economic Development Agency. In March this year, Caren completed a three year term as the Chair of the Arts Council of New Zealand, and a one year term on the Hawke’s Bay Regional Recovery Agency. In 2018, she was conferred with an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to governance and the Pacific community. Caren is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and a Member of the Institute of Directors and a member of the IoD’s Chapter Zero NZ Steering Committee.

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  John McMahon

  John is a director and Chair of NZX, and a director of NZX-listed companies AoFrio (Chair of Audit Committee), Solution Dynamics (Chair) and Vital Ltd (Chair). He has extensive industry experience in the technology sector, company turnaround and transformation, and entrepreneurial small cap governance. He has spent more than 20 years in the Australasian equity markets, predominantly as an equity analyst (covering a broad range of industries), and was Head of the Equity Desk at ABN AMRO. In wholesale equities, John has worked for CS Boston, BZW, Morgan Stanley, ABN AMRO, and Walker Capital, plus was Managing Director of ASB Securities for three years. He has a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), an MBA and is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder.   

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  Jonathan Mason CFInstD

  Jonathan Mason has had an extensive governance career in the financial markets in both the United States and New Zealand for over 30 years, with a strong emphasis on emerging markets. Jonathan currently serves as a Director on the boards of Westpac New Zealand Ltd and Zespri Group Limited and also holds non-profit governance roles at the University of Auckland and WWF-NZ. Previous roles include Director of Air New Zealand and Chair of Vector Ltd. He has held management positions in the oil and gas, chemical, forest products and dairy industries including Carter Holt Harvey and Fonterra in New Zealand and International Paper and ExxonMobil Corporation in the United States. He holds an MBA, MA and a BA and is an Honorary Adjunct Professor of Management at the University of Auckland, focusing on finance. Jonathan is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors and the chair of the Auckland IOD branch.

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  Julia Hoare CFInstD

  Julia Hoare is a professional independent director. She is Chair of Port of Tauranga Limited, Director of Comvita and Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk committees of Auckland International Airport Limited and Meridian Energy Ltd. Julia is also a Board member of Northport Ltd & Primeport Timaru Ltd. Previous roles include Deputy Chair of the a2 Milk Company Limited and Director of New Zealand Post, AWF Madison Group and Watercare Services and formerly a member of the External Reporting Advisory Panel and the New Zealand Sustainable Finance Forum Leadership Group. Julia is also the immediate past president and immediate past Chair of the Institute of Directors (IoD). Julia was a Partner with PwC NZ for 20 years where she sat on the Government’s review into the emissions trading scheme, and also set up and led PwC’s local sustainability and climate change services practice. Julia is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Chartered Fellow of the IoD.

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  Laurissa Cooney CMInstD

  Laurissa is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand. She has previously held senior manager, auditing and consulting roles with Deloitte in New Zealand and Deloitte Touche in London and was the Chief Financial Officer for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.

  Laurissa currently serves as a Co- Chair of Aotearoa Circle and is an Independent Non-Executive Director for Air New Zealand, Goodman Property Ltd and Accordant Group Ltd. She is the Chair of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Audit & Risk Committee. She also holds a role as Co-Chair for the Tourism Industry Transformation Plan for the Environment with MBIE and the Visitor Economy Adaptation Roadmap Aotearoa Circle workstream. Laurissa is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors and a member of the IoD's Chapter Zero NZ Steering Committee. Laurissa is of Te Āti Hau Nui a Pāpā Rangi (Whanganui) descent.

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  Mark Verbiest CFInstD

  Mark is an experienced company director, currently serving on the boards of several major companies and organisations. Mark is the Chair of Meridian and Summerset Group Holdings Limited. He is also the former Chair of Freightways Limited, Spark New Zealand Limited and Transpower New Zealand Limited. He is a former board member of the Financial Markets Authority and former member of the Advisory Board to New Zealand Treasury.

  Mark has had significant involvement and experience in the energy and technology sectors, as well as capital markets, in a variety of roles, over many years.

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  Phil Veal MInstD

  Phil Veal is a private investor and business leader with over 25 years of experience across a wide range of industry sectors. He is currently a board director of private investment company ForthCo, Skyline Healthcare Group (New Zealand Air Ambulance), and Natural Habitats. Previously, Phil has been an investor in and director of several other iconic New Zealand companies including Hellers, Tuatara Brewing, Phoenix Metal Recyclers and Rainbows End.
  
  He is the Managing Director of ForthCo, formerly the Chief Executive of Rangatira, and ran New York-based M&A consulting company PIPC. A qualified civil engineer, Phil started his career as a construction manager working on infrastructure projects in Europe and Asia. Phil is a member of the Chapter Zero NZ Steering Committee and a member of the Institute of Directors New Zealand.