Gender Diverse Organisation Leader : Chartered Governance Institute New Zealand

This award is presented to an organisation that demonstrates a commitment to improving and achieving gender diversity and gender equity in the governance makeup of the board and that publicly champions gender diversity and/or gender equity.

This category is open to all sectors and all organisations regardless of size.

Organisations will provide evidence of the journey they have been on/are on to achieving gender diversity/gender equity and the initiatives they have used to achieve this.

This award is sponsored by Cybercraft.

Meet the finalists

Paralympics New Zealand

Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) is the national Paralympic Committee for New Zealand, and its overall vision is “through Para Sport, lives will be transformed.”

PNZ uses the power of sport to positively influence community perceptions of disabled people and to promote a more diverse and inclusive society. PNZ invests significantly in developing and empowering women leaders at all levels in the organisation and in governance in general, following international best practice.

Equality is reflected through all levels of the organisation, including in the board membership. The importance of women in governance was recognised by the International Paralympic Committee which awarded PNZ the 2022 International Women’s Day Recognition Award. On receiving the Award, Chief Executive Fiona Allan said PNZ was delighted that the award recognised PNZ's commitment to gaining equality for women in Paralympic sport.

WE Accounting

WE Accounting was born eleven years ago, when a husband with accounting and auditing experience and a wife with a banking and financial background combined to start their own accounting business.

While WE started out just 'doing people's books’ it now

coaches businesses, provides VCFO services, sits on multiple governance boards, rolls out financial literacy packages and does everything it can towards its purpose - enhancing the mana of Māori and Pacific people. WE Accounting’s kaupapa is centred around Māori and Pacific cultural values, aiming to change the statistics for small businesses, especially for Māori, Pacific and Indigenous businesses.

Equity and diversity are a major part of WE Accounting’s strategy, based on a strong and clearly articulated set of values that reflect gender equity and diversity at all levels in the firm’s structure, governance and services.

WE Accounting was NZ Advisory Partner of the year at the 2022 Xero Awards.