For passion and purpose: a panel of presentations

Overview

Hosted by the IoD's Bay of Plenty branch, four experienced panellists presented on an area of for-purpose governance they are passionate about.

Themes discussed include:

• Becoming a useful board member
• Balancing empathy and pragmatism
• Understanding Impact
• Keeping your eyes on the horizon
• key differences between ‘for profit’ and ‘for purpose’ governance
• Creating shared value.

Thank you to our event sponsor TECT for their support of this event.

Presenters

Lani Evans MNZM CMInstD

Lani believes good governance is a privilege, a responsibility and a powerful lever for positive change.

She has been Head of Te Rourou, Vodafone Aotearoa Foundation since 2016, co-founded the Thankyou Charitable Trust, was a board member of Thankyou Payroll for 8 years and currently sits on the board of the Peter McKenzie Project. She is a past recipient of the NZ Emerging Philanthropist of the Year, received a Winston Churchill Fellowship, is an Edmund Hillary Fellow and was awarded a New Year’s Honour for services to social enterprise.

When she’s not working or volunteering, Lani can be found hiking, biking and running in the hills around Porirua, where she lives in an intergenerational household with her husband Hugh, her son Ara, her mother Ann, various siblings, two nephews, five chickens, one cat and two dogs.

Craig Fisher CMInstD

Craig Fisher is a Consultant with RSM and an Associate with Boardworks Aotearoa specialising in governance and financial matters and is a professional director.  Formerly an audit partner working across government, commercial, and non-profit sectors providing external audit, assurance, risk management and governance advice to a diverse range of organisations. 

He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant, chartered member of the Institute of Directors, and holds governance roles in various organisations including charitable trusts, a professional association, a Maori Trust, and an Independent Crown Entity.  

Tina Jennen MInstD

Tina Jennen launched her leased executive consultancy after commencing her MBA at Waikato University in 2010.  As part of her MBA action-research, she led the "Plenty of Innovation" programme at Enterprise Angels and published her final dissertation titled "Engaging the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem". 

Tina has since held several executive and governance roles, primarily working in horticulture technology, while also supporting applied learning as a university lecturer-practitioner. 

Most recently, Tina is serving in a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit board roles in order to experience the governance continuum while she completes her PhD as part of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship. 

Desiree Williams MInstD

Of Tūhoe descent and brought up in Rotorua, Desiree firmly believes a Māori world view ensures a perspective that can only result in better decision making in governance. That perspective comes from an understanding of the obligations Māori have to people and our planet which ensures a long term and holistic approach to decision making. A senior advisor with Te Puni Kokiri, Desiree also provides consultancy and supervision to Ngāi Tahu Māori Law Centre. When she can find the time, Desiree also offers private mediation and governance support. 

With over 20 years’ experience in governance, primarily in the for purpose space, Desiree recognises the titles she has worked hard to earn, but prefers to describe herself as an agent for social change. Desiree is passionate about the for purpose sector and reputed for her disruption in this sector in Otago, winning the 2018 Institute of Directors' Emerging Director Award in the region.

She is the current chair of Thankyou Payroll Limited and of Te Hou Ora Whanau Services. During this time Thankyou Payroll was the runner up in Diverse board in the Women in Governance Awards 2020 and Te Hou Ora Whanau Services won their category for reporting in the Charities Reporting Awards in 2019.

For several years Desiree was co-chair of Ngā Kaiawhina Māori Hapori o te ture, the Māori Caucus of Community Law Centres of Aotearoa, where she worked tirelessly to ensure community law is a strong treaty-honouring movement. Desiree also spent 10 years on the board of Māori Law Society representing Otago/Southland.

CPD

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