Dame Theresa Gattung, of Auckland, DNZM for services to women, governance and philanthropy
Dame 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 Dame Theresa 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. Dame Theresa is a member of the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women and on the Global Board of World Pulse.