Bridging the gap for New Zealand's Asian community, into governance

Panel Discussion

Fully booked

Speaker(s): Carol Cheng, Franky Wang, Kenneth Leong, Ziena Jalil
Date: 5:30pm — 7:30pm, 13 February 2024
Venue: KPMG Auckland
Location: 18 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
Price members: $75.00 incl GST
Price non-members: $75.00 incl GST

Overview

This panel discussion is created by and for the local Asian diaspora community who are already directors on, and/or aspiring directors of boards in New Zealand.

Panellists will share:

why they started their governance journey
their governance pathway to date
experiences about how they secured their governance roles
what they have learned along the way
and most importantly, their challenges, hopes and aspirations for the many future governance leaders from the local Asian community

The aim of the panel discussion is to introduce governance approaches and opportunities in New Zealand to Asian directors, to help them become better at setting the future direction of their businesses and organisations, to achieve sustainable social and financial outcomes. All ethnicities are welcome.

The Auckland branch of the Institute of Directors aims to support governance capacity and capability, focussing on topics that:

promote the value of governance to the local Asian community
amplify the value and diversity of thought that Asian directors bring to the board room
challenge the perception or assumptions that might be holding Asian directors back from taking their first step, or boards from considering applications from Asian directors
create networking opportunities for like-minded individuals to establish a talent pipeline.

Carol Cheng

CMInstD

Carol Cheng is a business adviser and China business specialist with over 20 years of accounting, auditing and advisory experience in New Zealand, Hong Kong and China. Carol is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Hong Consulting Limited, previously she was an Executive Director at PwC and a partner of Grant Thornton China.

Carol is an independent director and the Chair of the Risk and Finance Committee for Tātaki Auckland Unlimited. She is also the Governing Council Member and the Chair of the Risk, Audit and Finance Committee for the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, the Board of Trustees, and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee for the Asia New Zealand Foundation. She was an Executive Board Member and Treasurer of the New Zealand China Trade Association from 2014 to 2020.

Franky Wang 王俊生

BBS, BBS (Hons), MFin, MInstD

Franky is the Head of Asia Business Activation for the Bank of New Zealand. He significantly contributes to the development and execution of the BNZ Asia Strategy, an enterprises-wide national role, from the consumer & partners to SME divisions as well as corporate and institutional banking.

Other than banking, Franky volunteers with Cure Kids as the first and only Asian Special Advocate tasked with promoting the Cure Kids brand in the Asian community in New Zealand.

Franky also sits on the Board of New Zealand Asian Leaders, Basketball Development Trust and the Board of Kāhui Tū Kaha that is part of Ngāti Whātua. Franky is also an ICE Angel Investor growing start-up business in New Zealand.

Franky is currently sitting on the Institute of Directors (IoD) Auckland branch committee. He was a mentee of the IoD Mentoring for Diversity programme in 2019 and recently completed his IoD Company Director Course.

Kenneth Leong

MInstD

Kenneth has over 20 years’ experience in corporate finance and international business. He currently serves on the Boards of numerous private businesses involved in education, retail and technology. He advises senior business people and high net worth investors as Director of Tiaki Capital, an independent corporate finance firm.

He was Chairman of the ASEAN New Zealand Business Council from 2017-2021 and currently a member of the Ministerial Strategic Advisory Group on Trade. He was inducted by KEA as a World Class New Zealander in 2015. He has a long history of involvement with the not-for-profit sector; he has been a trustee of the Auckland Foundation since 2016.

Simon Bridges (Moderator)

A lawyer turned senior National politician, Simon held a raft of senior responsibilities in politics, including as Leader of the National Party. Prior to Parliament, Simon started his career in a national law firm and was then a Crown prosecutor.

Simon has an LLB (Hons) and BA from Auckland University where he received a Senior Law Prize, and a Bachelor of Civil law from Oxford University. Following his retirement from politics, Simon was appointed CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber.

Ziena Jalil

MInstD

Ziena Jalil is an award-winning business and public sector leader, focused on deepening New Zealand’s engagement with the Asia Pacific, and improving outcomes for those with diverse cultures, abilities and experiences. She is a board member for Toka Tū Ake EQC, Education New Zealand, and the Asia New Zealand Foundation. Previous board roles have included private companies, public sector organisations and not-for-profits.

Recognised by Campaign Asia Pacific as part of its 2020 Women to Watch, a group of 40 outstanding women in the Asia Pacific, and a finalist for the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards (Board and Management, and Global categories), Ziena is a sought after MC and facilitator, and a keynote speaker on leadership, Asia business, international education, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

She has received several international awards for her work promoting New Zealand trade and education in Asia, where she was based in various roles for 10 years, including as New Zealand Trade Commissioner to Singapore.

Additional information

Covid-19 precautions

By registering for this event you are confirming that you agree to adhere to our Covid-19 health and safety measures. If you are unwell or have any Covid-19 symptoms please do not attend this event.