Theresa Gattung CNZM
Funder, Aotearoa Centre for Enterprising Women

Perhaps best known for her role as CEO of Telecom New Zealand, Theresa was the first female CEO of an NZX listed company. Since leaving Telecom, she divides her time between professional governance, entrepreneurial projects, and philanthropic work.

As co-founder of My Food Bag, alongside Cecilia Robinson and Nadia Lim, she helped take the start-up to a nationwide company with a turnover of over $130m.

She is currently Chair AIA New Zealand, Chair Tend, Chair Global Women, a member of the National Advisory Board on the Employment of Women and the New Zealand lead of Coralus (formerly SheEO).

In 2021 she funded the Theresa Gattung Chair of Women in Entrepreneurship within the University of Auckland Business School.

Apart from the academic side, Gattung wants the centre to teach much-needed practical skills. She says, “Women needed to know how to launch a business, read a balance sheet, know what venture capital was and how to access it.”

“I so want to support women doing their own thing in business, doing it their way.” – Theresa Gattung

She also launched the Gattung Foundation in 2021 whose main charitable purposes are to support the relief of poverty, the education and advancement of women, Māori and Pasifika to reduce inequality and the care, support and protection of animals.

In the 2015 New Year’s Honours List, Theresa was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and philanthropy.

www.theresagattung.com