To be a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
GATTUNG, Ms Theresa Elizabeth, CNZM
For services to women, governance and philanthropy
Ms Theresa Gattung is an award-winning business leader who has continued to build on her focus of supporting women to lead and achieve, while holding a range of both commercial and charitable governance roles.
In 2021 Ms Gattung co-founded the Gattung Foundation to support causes across education, communities, animal welfare, and reducing inequality and poverty and also funded the Chair of Women in Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland Business School. She was the driving force behind the establishment of Coralus (formerly SheEO) in New Zealand, a global community of women financing, supporting and celebrating female innovators. In five years as New Zealand Lead, more than 25 female-led ventures were funded, and she raised $1.3m to form the basis of a perpetual fund for interest-free loans for female entrepreneurs. She chaired Wellington SPCA from 2011 to 2017 and was a Director on the RNZSPCA Board from 2016 to 2018. She was appointed Chair of AIA New Zealand in 2018, and chaired AIA Australia from 2010 to 2021. She chairs Global Women and education content provider Telco Technology Services as well as Tend, which launched in 2020 to provide an end-to-end online and in person healthcare experience for New Zealanders. Ms Gattung is a member of the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women and on the Global Board of World Pulse.
HONOURS
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 2015
To be a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WITHERS, Mrs Joan
For services to business, governance and women
Mrs Joan Withers is one of New Zealand’s leading governance experts and a champion for women in business, with more than 20 years’ experience in the media industry and numerous governance roles in significant New Zealand businesses.
Mrs Withers held senior roles in both newspaper and radio and was the Chief Executive of Fairfax New Zealand and The Radio Network of New Zealand. She has been a Director and Chairperson of numerous private and state sector companies. These have included chairing The Warehouse Group since 2016, Chair of Mighty River Power (later Mercury), Auckland International Airport and TVNZ. She is a former Director of Meridian Energy and Counties Manukau District Health Board. She is currently Director of Sky Network TV, ANZ New Zealand and Origin Energy. She was a foundation member of Global Women and the 25 Percent Group, which worked to achieve diversity of thought at senior management level and in New Zealand boardrooms. She co-founded OnBeingBold, which convenes an annual event empowering women leaders, with a similar event provided freely to Year 13 girls. She is a Trustee of the Louise Perkins Foundation and previously of Royal New Zealand Ballet and Counties Manukau Pacific Trust. She chaired the Steering Group of Grow Our Own Workforce from 2009 until recently. Mrs Withers is the author of ‘A Girl’s Guide to Business’ (1998) and ‘A Woman’s Place’ (2017).