Category: Leadership and Governance

Welcoming Tania Pouwhare as Chief Executive

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Tania Pouwhare as the next Chief Executive of Good Shepherd New Zealand. Tania brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to advancing social and economic justice, particularly for women, whānau and communities most impacted by inequality and harm.

Over more than 20 years, Tania has worked across Aotearoa and the UK in roles spanning policy, campaigning, community innovation, and Indigenous economic development. Her pioneering work includes introducing social procurement in Aotearoa, co-founding Amotai (which has enabled over $460m in spend with Māori and Pasifika businesses), and leading system-change initiatives at The Southern Initiative a social innovation team at Auckland Council focused on Māori and Pasifika whānau.

She has also had a long-standing commitment to supporting women impacted by family and economic harm, including early roles with Women’s Refuge in Aotearoa and a decade leading policy and campaigns at the Women’s Resource Centre in London.

Outgoing Chief Executive, Emma Saunders, says “I’m thrilled to know Tania is stepping into the role. Over the last two years, the team has created the strong foundations needed for even more social impact in New Zealand — building capability, organisational resilience, trusted profile and presence, data and insights, new partnerships and services, and more. The Board and I wanted to ensure the next CEO could really leverage what’s been built to deepen and widen our impact for mission. Tania is a fantastic choice for our next phase. We are proud to welcome her to the team.”

Tania is widely recognised as a thought leader and changemaker. She is a Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Social Equity Fellowship, an Honorary Fellow of Engineering NZ, and earlier this year was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to social innovation.

Board Chair Gael Surgenor says, “In my own experience working with Tania at Auckland Council, I have seen her combine sharp systems thinking with deep relational leadership. She is both visionary and practical – able to influence policy and strategy, while also building strong partnerships and delivering tangible outcomes. Above all, she brings an unwavering focus on equity and justice for women and girls, which sits right at the heart of Good Shepherd’s kaupapa.”

Tania will be joining us formally in late September, with time for a handover with Emma before she leaves. We’re grateful that Emma will also remain available in an advisory capacity, to help a smooth transition of leadership and continuation of our important services, pilots and partnerships. 

Learning and connection with the Sisters

The last few months brought three opportunities for Good Shepherd’s New Zealand team to spend quality time with the Sisters carrying on a legacy of purpose first established in 1886. 

Good Shepherd was originally founded in France in 1835 by Saint Mary Euphrasia, with the determination to assist women and children in most need. The mission spread around the world. The Sisters began to serve in Ōtautahi / Christchurch about 50 years later.  

Over the last decade, our local Sisters have started to retire. Others continue the work as ‘Partners in Mission’. Our connection with the Sisters locally and globally remains important. Reconnecting with their wisdom and leadership is an energising experience and a valued privilege for our team. 

In May, the Sisters and other leaders of Good Shepherd in New Zealand and Australia attended a three-day Province Assembly in Melbourne. The event’s theme was ‘Journeying together with hope’. Joined by Sr Joan Lopez, Congregational Leader, and three members of the Congregational Leadership Team – Srs Josita Corera, Marie Francoise Mestry and Yolanda Sanchez – we reflected, shared perspectives and talked about the future we are working for. This brought a treasured opportunity to collaborate in person and determine how we will work alongside others and provide support in our wider Asia-Pacific region. The Sisters in New Zealand and Australia have always worked closely and we continue as partners in our mission. 

Read more about the Province Assembly here.  

Following the Province Assembly, Sisters from the Congregational Leadership Team visited Good Shepherd’s Auckland office. It was an honour to host them and talk together about the mission in New Zealand, strengthening connections and sharing stories of our work.  

In July, our team and board were thrilled to welcome a group of Sisters and other governance leaders from New Zealand and Australia for a day of collaboration and connection at Te Māhurehure Cultural Centre in Tāmaki Makaurau. The day was a chance to deepen personal connections to the mission, absorb the wisdom of the Sisters, and reflect on changes we want to make to our services to make even more positive impact for people.   

Emma Saunders, Chief Executive at Good Shepherd New Zealand says: 

“Time with the Sisters is always incredibly enriching. They dedicate their lives to service for our mission. The team loved hearing their thoughts about issues facing women, girls and their families in Aotearoa, and discussing existing and future services.” 

Good Shepherd welcomes new Chief Executive

Good Shepherd NZ is excited to announce Emma Saunders as our new Chief Executive.

Woman smiling and presenting at a conference.

Emma Saunders stepped in to lead the organisation as interim Chief Executive in mid-2023, and the Good Shepherd Board is delighted that Emma has agreed to continue in a permanent capacity. Good Shepherd NZ Board Chair, Marian Kleist, led the recruitment process. 

“The Board engaged an external consultant to lead an extensive recruitment process and make sure we reached and considered a broad range of excellent candidates across the country. Emma’s skills and experience in driving bold and transformational initiatives to create maximum impact for people in hardship stood out as the qualities we need to take Good Shepherd NZ into the next phase of work, and deliver crucial wellbeing outcomes for New Zealand women and their whānau.”

Emma has considerable experience working at a senior level across the private and public sectors, using data and research to uncover insights and develop strategies, services and products for client and customer-led impact.

As co-founder and Chief Executive of a successful service design business for more than a decade, Emma led a team that delivered major strategy and service-line projects, and guided planning and implementation to ensure commercial organisations and government departments achieved key outcomes.

Emma has a lifelong commitment to tackling issues that compound disadvantage for people – and particularly gravitates toward helping women to stand strong, safe and independent. 

She served as Board Chair at Hutt Valley Women’s Refuge, creating a new structure, guiding and enabling the Chief Executive to develop new services to support women affected by family violence. Emma first joined Good Shepherd NZ as Board Chair, prior to stepping in as interim Chief Executive.

The Mission of Good Shepherd calls strongly to me, and I am honoured and excited to be able to take up the opportunity to lead this important work and drive positive impact in our communities. I have loved my short time leading the team so far, and I am ready to get stuck in and make a difference for more women and their whānau that are facing significant disadvantage in their lives.

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