Dame Ingrid Collins, DNZM, of Gisborne, for services to Māori, business and health governance
Dame Ingrid Collins (Ngāti Porou) has contributed 50 years of governance to Whangara B5 Incorporation and was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2007 for her services to Māori.Dame Ingrid has been Chair of the Whangara Farms partnership since inception in 2006. It is regarded as an exemplar of best practice, sustainability and innovation for Māori land development. She has represented Māori land matters in international forums, including the United Nations Indigenous Forum, and through Whangara being the first New Zealand beef farm to join McDonald’s flagship farmers’ scheme in 2018. She was a member of the AgResearch Māori Advisory Committee from 2013 to 2019 and was appointed to the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee from 2013 to 2015. She has also had a career in health governance across a range of roles, including as Chief Executive and owner of Three Rivers Medical from 2005 to 2022, and nine years as Chair of Tairawhiti District Health Board until 2011. She is presently a Trustee of Tairawhiti Whenua Charitable Trust, Matai Medical Research Institute, Ngā Taonga ā Ngā Tama Toa Trust since 2008, and has been a Trustee of Chelsea Private Hospital since 1999. Dame Ingrid was a Trustee from 2014 for the building and opening of 28 Māori Battalion C Company Memorial Trust House.