Agenda

Katie Bhreatnach, Chief Executive Officer, Global Women

Oriini Ngawai Kaipara, Member of Parliament for Tāmaki Makaurau (Te Pāti Māori)

• Expanding women’s financial literacy, confidence, and investment capability to build real economic power

• Addressing career breaks, ageism, and later-career financial vulnerability for women

• Advancing women’s ownership, equity and entrepreneurship to reshape long-term economic outcomes

Tania Pouwhare, Chief Executive Officer, Good Shepherd New Zealand

Sarah Baddeley, Partner, MartinJenkins

Karleen Everitt, Kaitohu Rautaki Maori Head of Te Ao Maori Strategy, ANZ

Susan Peterson, Chair of the Board, Kiwi Bank

Sumita Paul, Principal Financial Planner, Athena Wealth, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Grief Centre

A fun, fast-paced Networking Bingo designed to spark conversations and help you discover shared experiences, unexpected connections, and new collaborators in the room. Complete your card by meeting fellow leaders and learning what makes them unique

Dr Mai Chen, Prominent Barrister, Chair, President NZ Asian Lawyers, Superdiversity Institute

• In multinational, tech-driven organisations, which leadership practices scale globally, and which must adapt locally?

• When moving across sectors or into global roles, how do you build credibility and deliver impact quickly?

• How has rapid technological change reshaped your approach to resilience, innovation, and decision-making at scale?

• What have you learned about leading diverse, cross-cultural teams and aligning people, performance, and purpose globally?

Carol Brown, Country Manager, Databricks

Megan Simons, Country Manager, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, Mastercard

Haylee Putaranui, Group Governance Manager, Tū Ātea

Our Mentoring Circles are limited-capacity, structured lunchtime sessions designed to foster meaningful connections between senior leaders and emerging talent. Interactive and practical, they’re created to spark honest conversation, shared insight, and relationships that extend well beyond the Summit and into your career

Jayne Chater, Chief Executive Officer, jaynechater.com

• The power of the non-linear path and how setbacks and bold pivots shape authentic leadership

• How TupuToa creates paid pathways into corporate Aotearoa for Māori and Pacific talent

• Partnering with organisations to strengthen cultural capability and better reflect the communities they serve

Aroha Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer, TupuToa

Step into a focused 45-minute session designed to help you deepen key leadership capabilities skills. Each lab offers a chance to explore real-world challenges, exchange ideas with peers, and walk away with tools to accelerate your impact

Emerging Leaders: Building confidence, Influence, & Capability

• Recognising how uncertainty, pressure, and shifting priorities impact team performance, engagement, and wellbeing

• Everyday actions that create stability, psychological safety, and credibility, even without formal authority

• Communicating with clarity and confidence, managing emotions, and supporting colleagues through small and large-scale change

Skills Learned: Build confidence to make decisive choices, communicate clearly, manage pressure, and create psychological safety that sustains team resilience

Bindi Shah, Partner, Deloitte New Zealand

Middle Managers: Leading High-Performing Teams through Change

• Diagnosing team needs morale, capability, communication, psychological safety

• Tools for managing resistance, maintaining performance, and engaging diverse groups

• Techniques for balancing empathy with accountability during transitions

Skills Learned: Strengthen your ability to diagnose team dynamics, manage resistance, and lead change with empathy, accountability, and executive presence

Alissa Bell, Partner, Chairperson, McVeagh Fleming; Winner of Australasian Lawyer and NZ Lawyer Elite Women 2025

Senior Leaders: Becoming Board-Ready & Steering Organisational Transformation

• Building the strategic judgement, governance mindset, and executive presence required at the board table

• Identifying the experience, achievements, and visibility that boards look for and how to position your expertise, network, and reputation

Skills Learned: Develop governance fluency, sharpen strategic judgement, and position your experience and influence for board-level impact

Julia Raue, Deputy Chair, Global Women, Independent Director, NZ Rugby, Asteron Life NZ, Southern Cross Healthcare

*Bring along a male ally for the afternoon block of sessions and networking drinks*

Exploring what cultural safety means in Aotearoa today. This session moves beyond performative gestures and focuses on leadership accountability. Leaders will examine power, systems, and responsibility, and gain practical ways to embed genuine allyship that honours Te Tiriti, Pacific identities, and lived experience

Dagmar Vaikalafi Dyck, Assistant Pro Vice Chancellor Pacific, Auckland University of Technology

Exploring how active sponsorship can transform organisational culture and accelerate diverse leadership. This session highlights the role senior leaders play in opening doors, advocating for talent, and linking inclusion to measurable outcomes

Peter Reidy, Chief Executive Officer, KiwiRail

Exploring the impact of visible leadership and the responsibility of creating environments where people feel they belong. This session focuses on authenticity, courage, and advocacy. It reinforces that belonging must be embedded into leadership practice

Lizzi Whaley, Chief Executive Officer, Spaceworks Interior Architecture

• Where is allyship still performative in our organisations, and what would real accountability look like?

• How can leaders actively sponsor diverse talent rather than simply support it?

• What daily leadership behaviors build genuine belonging and psychological safety?

• How do we design inclusion strategies that respond to intersecting identities, not just single categories?

Dagmar Vaikalafi Dyck, Assistant Pro Vice Chancellor Pacific, Auckland University of Technology

Peter Reidy, Chief Executive Officer, KiwiRail

Lizzi Whaley, Chief Executive Officer, Spaceworks Interior Architecture

Take a moment to pause and reflect on the most valuable insight you gained today. You’ll write a short message to your future self capturing one commitment, behaviour shift, or leadership action you want to put into practice over the months ahead. Your postcard will be mailed back to you after the summit