Dr Jim Mather is of Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe and English descent, growing up in the communities of Te Teko, Ōtara and Māngere.
A member of the Chartered Accountants of New Zealand/Australia and Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors (IoD), Jim has been a professional director and the founder of a specialist Māori development consultancy, holding a Masters of Business Administration from the Henley Business School in England and a Bachelor of Business Studies (Accounting). He also completed a PhD in Māori economic development through AUT University in 2014.
With business management experience spanning 25 years, Jim has held a variety of private sector roles and currently holds numerous governance roles within private, government and iwi organisations. In 2018 he completed his final Chief Executive role with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (New Zealand’s second largest tertiary institution) after a 5-year term. This followed a 9-year tenure as Chief Executive of Māori Television, and prior to that he was Chief Executive of the Pacific Business Trust for almost 3 years.
Jim is passionate about Māori development and contributing to the strengthening of all entities that he is entrusted to support in either advisory or governance roles.
Aligned with his commercial background, Jim is also a former officer in the New Zealand Army, and was awarded the Sword of Honour in recognition of his distinguished achievements in Officer training. He served for six years in the NZ Army before leaving to further his career and educational aspirations.
