Cultural diversity key for boards

A desire to help shape a positive future for New Zealand, and to give back to  the community, has inspired Sanit Kumar to balance the demands of a senior leadership career and young family with governance responsibilities.

Auckland-based Mr Kumar leads critical Cloud and Infrastructure platforms at One New Zealand which underpins New Zealand’s largest mobile and telecommunications services. His role oversees teams based both onshore and offshore. He is pivotal to transformational activities being carried out at One Zealand.

Since 2021, he has also been a member of the board of Henderson Budget Service and this year he became a board trustee  of Sport Auckland. He is also a volunteer with Business Mentors New Zealand and committee member of Starduz Sports Club

In the future he aspires to take up roles on the boards of larger organisations as a professional director and has been working with the Institute of Directors (IoD) to further develop his governance skills.

This has included taking the IoD’s Company Directors’ Course and completing its Chartered Membership (CMInstD) pathway and this year he was selected for its Mentoring for Diversity programme.

“Governance has always been something I did in my professional career,” says Mr Kumar, who joined One NZ last year from the University of Auckland, where he was Infrastructure Services Portfolio Manager – Cloud, Network & Datacentre, leading transformational projects.

“That includes being on steering committees and advisory groups, guiding how we move forward, and contributing towards the formation of the digital strategy.

“Jason Mangan, the Chief Digital Officer at the university has been a great mentor. He saw some characteristics in me and strongly encouraged me to join IoD and undertake professional leadership towards sitting on boards.

“My first board role came about after I saw a Facebook advert for a trustee for the Henderson Budget Service. It’s a not for profit with a 30-plus year history of helping people who need financial literacy. I applied and was fortunate to be selected.

“I saw an advert for the Sport Auckland role on the IoD website and went through the stringent interview process. It is one of the largest regional sports trusts in New Zealand.”

Mr. Kumar brings a wealth of expertise to the board including strong commercial, financial, and business acumen, a deep understanding of regulations and technology and extensive experience managing large teams.

His background in driving business strategy and delivering results, especially in areas like environmental sustainability, further enhances his contributions.

Raised in Fiji, he gained a degree with double majors in computer science and information systems from the University of the South Pacific before moving to New Zealand in 2006. In 2017 he graduated with a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Auckland.

He says: "My family is originally from Gujarat, a region well known for its business acumen. It's where Narendra Modi and Mukesh Ambani are from.

 

“I also bring my strong Fijian Pacific background with connections in the Indian community. That diversity aspect is big for me. Boards require more diversity at the table and cultural diversity is one of them.

“The way business is done can be very different across cultures and boards definitely need more Pacific and Māori representation.

“Different backgrounds, industries and ethnicities all bring fresh perspective to a board and avoid ‘group think’. If you all think in the same way there is no innovation, so diversity is important.”

In seeking governance roles, he looks for organisations that align with his ethics of giving back to the community and helping people in need.

Henderson Budget Service provides free, confidential budgeting advice and support in West Auckland, while Sport Auckland delivers play, sport, active recreation, health and wellness initiatives directly into the community. He is also part of the audit and risk subcommittee at Sport Auckland.

After joining the IoD two years ago, Mr Kumar decided to do its CDC. 
The benchmark for directors and senior leaders reporting to boards, the five-and-a-half day residential course is focused on improving participants’ decision-making  ability in the boardroom.

“It was a very good course and I highly recommend it – and making the time to complete the chartered membership process following it,” says Mr Kumar.

IoD’s Mentoring for Diversity programme is for experienced directors who have the goal of achieving a non-executive director role on a large private company or public sector board, an NZX-listed board or as a trustee for a large not-for-profit organisation.

“I see myself sitting as a professional director in the future so the programme attracted me for that reason,” says Mr Kumar. “It is giving me exposure to a professional director, who will be my mentor for a year. It also exposes me to my fellow mentees, a like-minded group of people with similar goals.

“It has been very fruitful for me. My mentor is professional director Carolyn Steele (CMInstD) who sits on multiple boards. She has helped me develop my road map for my governance journey and invited me to networking events with fellow directors.”

Mr Kumar encourages others to consider making the bold step into governance.

“The urge should come from within but my advice is, if you are considering getting involved in governance, take the leap.

“Juggling a professional career with board roles can be quite hectic. My wife  Esha and I have two children, aged four and two, so I am very fortunate that she is very supportive.

“But, we are all busy people. If you are thinking about it, set some time aside and go for it. You win by trying and not by sitting around.”