New Zealand stands out globally as a country determined to advance the working conditions of women, ranking sixth among 200 countries in a recent global gender gap report by the World Economic Forum. As the country celebrates Women’s History Month, Insurance Business New Zealand’s (IBNZ) Elite Women 2022 recognises 19 women who are doing their best to improve things for their gender and boost the lives of those who have historically been underrepresented in the insurance and other industries.
Insurance Business identified the leading women in the New Zealand insurance industry for 2022 by inviting insurance professionals across the country to nominate exceptional female leaders for the Elite Women list. Nominees had to be working in a role that related to, interacted with, or in some way influenced the insurance industry and must have demonstrated a commitment to their profession.
Afterwards, the IBNZ team asked the nominators to describe the nominees’ standout professional achievements over the past 12 months, along with their contributions to diversity and inclusion in the industry and how they have given back through volunteer roles and charity work. The team also considered recommendations from managers and senior industry professionals. Finally, the team narrowed down the list to the final 19 Elite Women after reviewing all nominations and examining how each individual had made a meaningful contribution to the industry.
The IBNZ Elite Women 2022 list features Paula ter Brake, chief risk officer and managing director Pacific at Tower Insurance NZ (Tower), who has a career that spans 25 years and many accomplishments. Recently, she led the strategic acquisition of National Pacific Insurance (NPI), enabling the insurance giant’s full ownership of its Pacific entities and the rebranding of NPI.
“Despite market and business contraction, I set out a five-year growth plan, securing support for a multimillion-dollar digital transformation program for the re-platforming of legacy systems to Tower’s leading digital and data platform and the launch of the Pacific Islands’ first fully optimised digital sales and service solution,” ter Brake told IBNZ.
Sarah-Jane Wild, head of partnerships at Tower, also stood out among female insurance professionals in New Zealand for having impressive work experience in Fiji, where she became the first female general manager of an insurance company in the country and the first chair of the insurance council.
As a leader, Wild helped develop diversity, equity, and inclusion (E&I) in a country where few women were in senior or board roles. She also helped host workshops and events to build confidence and capabilities among the native women and celebrate their subsequent advancements.
“Each year, we held an awards evening where we celebrated the achievement of women in various roles, which often led to their next promotion,” Wild told IBNZ.
You can find out more about the insurance journey and achievements of ter Brake and Wild and see the rest of this year’s Elite Women in New Zealand by reading the IBNZ Elite Women 2022 report.
