Auckland Friday 16 February Gallery

On Friday February 16 M2woman celebrated the success of women in business and opened up the floor for discussion of gender diversity and pay equity in the workplace. Over 250 invited guests descended upon the Pullman Hotel for an afternoon of conversation and discussion.

Media coverage of our first Journey to Excellence Event (Friday 16 Feb 2018):

Gender equity conference to highlight women in the workplace

Gattung says Fletcher wouldn’t have foundered with a woman at the top

Focus: Call for more transparency in NZ on gender, pay equality

Social conversation – posts & tweets

Top businesswomen call for gender diversity and pay equality

Gender equity taking too long, business leaders tell forum

The Panel:
Justine Smyth
Justine is the Chair of Spark, a Director of Auckland International Airport and Chair of the Breast Cancer Foundation NZ. She is also an active investor and owner of SME’s. Previous roles include being a Board Member of the Financial Markets Authority and Partner of Deloitte.
Theresa Gattung
Leading New Zealand business personality and author. For 8 years Theresa was the CEO and MD of Telecom New Zealand and in 2012 co-founded the hugely successful start-up, My Food Bag, which has a turnover of around $130m. Theresa is involved with a number of philanthropic interests, including being co-founder of the World Women Charitable Trust, Patron of the Cambodia Charitable Trust and on the RNZSPCA National Board. In 2015 she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and philanthropy.
Naomi Ballantyne (ONZM)
Naomi has over​ 30 years of experience in the New Zealand life insurance industry. She is one of the most well-known and respected executives in the market today and has unprecedented experience in starting companies and then leading them to significant long-term success. Naomi was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to the insurance industry.
Tracey Cross
Tracey leads the national financial services team for DLA Piper, New Zealand’s only global business law firm. She has more than 20 years’ experience in funds management, regulatory compliance, governance and contracting issues. She is on the management committee of Women in Super and chairs DLA Piper’s Leadership Alliance for Women.
Linda Meade
Linda is Deloitte’s lead partner, public sector for Financial Advisory Services in NZ. Linda is also the lead partner for Deloitte Access Economics in NZ. Recent reports included the “Diversity Dividend” report commissioned by Westpac to the understand the potential economic impact of increasing the proportion of women in management roles from 29% to 50%.
The panel will be mediated by:
Nadine Higgins (nee Chalmers-Ross)
Nadine is a freelance journalist, broadcaster and MC, having spent the past 12 years onscreen at Television New Zealand and on air at Radio New Zealand as a presenter and business correspondent. Renowned for her sharp mind and interviewing skills, Nadine currently splits her time between writing for newspapers and magazines, hosting on Newstalk ZB and TV3’s The Project.

Check out more coverage of Journey To Excellence here.