Directors gather for annual conference
Directors from across the country are gathering in Auckland on 2-3 April for the annual leadership conference of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand.
Titled ‘Beyond Now’, the conference is the largest gathering of directors in the country with around 600 attendees from across New Zealand.
“These are exciting times for directors,” says IoD chief executive Kirsten ‘KP’ Patterson. “Given the dynamic and complex governance environment we are in, it is important for the governance community to be updated on the latest thinking, ideas and innovations in governance which can help us and our organisations succeed.”
Recent developments, including the report by the Financial Markets Authority and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s on conduct and culture in the life insurance industry, have highlighted the important role of directors particularly in addressing issues such as ethical behaviour in the workplace.
“We are seeing increasing understanding and also scrutiny of the role of directors in organisations, and our conference gives the director community the opportunity to talk about the most pressing issues affecting boards and reflect on ways we can improve governance in our respective organisations,” KP says.
Among those who will be addressing the conference are former Prime Minister The Rt Hon Sir John Key who will share his experience transitioning from his life in politics to being a director. Sir John is currently the Chair of ANZ Bank New Zealand.
The conference will feature international speakers including former Washington Post Beijing bureau chief John Pomfret, KPMG Global Head for Infrastructure Richard Threlfall, ‘The Origins of Ethical Failures’ author Dennis Gentilin and ADDO AI Co-Founder and CEO Dr Ayesha Khanna.
Singapore-based ADDO AI was featured in Forbes magazine as one of four leading artificial intelligence companies in Asia. In 2018, Dr Khanna was named one of South East Asia’s ground-breaking female entrepreneurs by Forbes magazine.
Other local speakers include Climate Change Minister and Green Party Co-Leader Hon James Shaw, Sir John Kirwan KNZM MBE, Victoria University of Wellington Pro Vice-Chancellor and Business School Dean Prof Ian O. Williamson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Deputy Secretary Vangelis Vitalis and Ministry of Awesome and Boma CEO Kaila Colbin.
This year’s conference coincides with the 30th anniversary of IoD in New Zealand and is presented in partnership with Air New Zealand, ASB Bank, Diligent, ELE Group and MinterEllisonRuddWatts.
IoD is a non-partisan voluntary membership organisation committed to driving excellence in governance. It represents about 9,000 members drawn from listed issuers, large private organisations, small and medium enterprises, state sector and not-for-profit organisations and charities.
Also see 2020 Leadership Conference for programme and registration