Business School alumnae recognised in King's Birthday Honours

Mrs Joan Withers (DNZM) 

For services to business, governance and women

Mrs Joan Withers is one of New Zealand’s leading governance experts and a champion for women in business, with more than 20 years’ experience in the media industry and numerous governance roles in significant New Zealand businesses.

Mrs Withers held senior roles in both newspaper and radio and was the Chief Executive of Fairfax New Zealand and The Radio Network of New Zealand. She has been a Director and Chairperson of numerous private and state sector companies. These have included chairing The Warehouse Group since 2016, Chair of Mighty River Power (later Mercury), Auckland International Airport and TVNZ. She is a former Director of Meridian Energy and Counties Manukau District Health Board. She is currently Director of Sky Network TV, ANZ New Zealand and Origin Energy. She was a foundation member of Global Women and the 25 Percent Group, which worked to achieve diversity of thought at senior management level and in New Zealand boardrooms. She co-founded OnBeingBold, which convenes an annual event empowering women leaders, with a similar event provided freely to Year 13 girls. She is a Trustee of the Louise Perkins Foundation and previously of Royal New Zealand Ballet and Counties Manukau Pacific Trust. She chaired the Steering Group of Grow Our Own Workforce from 2009 until recently. Mrs Withers is the author of ‘A Girl’s Guide to Business’ (1998) and ‘A Woman’s Place’ (2017).

Ms Anne Candy (CNZM, QSO, JP) 

For services to Māori and local government

Ms Anne Candy (Ngāiterangi, Waikato-Tainui) was a Manukau City Councillor from 1995 until 2010 and Deputy Mayor of Manukau from 1998 to 2007.

Ms Candy chaired the Manukau City Council’s Environmental Hearings Committee from 2007 to 2010 and was an elected member of the Counties Manukau District Health Board from 2008 to 2010. She has been a member of Manurewa Local Board since 2019. She was a Review Panel member for the External Review of Maternity Care in the Counties Manukau District for the DHB in 2012. She has contributed in various ways to Ngati Te Ata, supporting parents and whānau in education, health, housing, te reo Māori, cultural heritage, the wellbeing of tamariki, and environmental protection. She was appointed by the Māori Women’s Welfare League as an inaugural Trustee of the Water Utility Consumer Assistance Trust in 2011. She co-founded in 2005 and has chaired the Taonga Education Centre Charitable Trust, helping establish the Potiki Early Childhood Centre and Parents Unit in 2006 and Te Kopu Inc’s Te Kahui Iti Nei Early Childhood Centre in 2008. She served as Bishop’s Commissary to Te Pihopa o Te Tai Tokerau from 2002 to 2023. Mrs Candy was patron of the Manurewa RSA from 1998 to 2018 and has been patron of the Manukau National Council of Women since 2002.
 

Ms Jolie Hodson (MNZM)

For services to business, governance and women

Ms Jolie Hodson (Ngāpuhi, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Kahungungu) has been CEO and Executive Director of Spark New Zealand since 2019, having held other executive roles, including CFO, from 2013.

During Ms Hodson’s tenure, Spark has continued to grow and transform into a digital services company and has led the way among NZX-listed gender-diverse boards, prioritising diversity and equity. She helped co-found OnBeingBold in 2017, alongside a collective of other prominent New Zealand businesswomen, aiming to inspire and empower women to succeed in business. OnBeingBold delivers an annual conference of business leaders to inspire women at all stages of their careers, with profits from the event going towards free leadership development events for Year 13 girls. She became Convenor of the Climate Leaders Coalition in 2022, encouraging New Zealand businesses that account for nearly a third of Aotearoa’s GDP to raise the bar on business leadership on climate action. She chaired the Digital Boost Alliance during its inaugural year, a joint public-private initiative supporting the uptake of digital tools for small businesses and communities. She has been an activator with SheEO since its inception in 2017, supporting women and non-binary entrepreneurs with start-ups. Ms Hodson was named Deloitte Top 200’s Chief Executive of the Year in 2022, having been Chief Financial Officer of the Year in 2016.