The year ahead: The Global Women chair wants New Zealand to support girls and women in business – though at home, her personal challenge is somewhat different.

“The Māori economy is not a ‘grievance’ economy - it is a burgeoning economy; an opportunity. The mindset has shifted in my 40 years of being an adult in New Zealand, and we don’t want to go backwards.” Theresa Gattung

A precious moment in time not to be missed. This feels to us to be an important moment in our life-time, to lift our voices in support of wāhine Māori, and all Māori. This Matariki and every day. For a prosperous and thriving Aotearoa New Zealand for all of us.

Gattung says there is a renaissance in matchmaking right now and there’s a reason that matchmakers have been around since the beginning of society.

“For all those who are disappointed by dating apps and unfulfilling services, they should consider matchmaking as an option.”

“It feels I have lived my life on the in-breath, always doing more, and more, and more. This feels like a gentle out-breath, a relaxing thing, a warm enveloping thing, like a completion, but I’m only in my 60s, so I’m not yet done,” she said.

“Dating, and mid-life dating in particular, isn’t elegant and yet we like to have elegance in other parts of our lives – certainly feeling safe at a minimum,” says Gattung.

“Every year is the year that women should be getting on a board, but I do think that 2024 is a good year because there is a lot of momentum and support around this and it feels like there is less resistance than there has been in times past.”

Women working across New Zealand are effectively working for free from today at 2.38pm.

Last year the sisters launched the Gattung Foundation wanting to empower others to change their lives.

“I’m the eldest of four girls and I’ve felt well supported by my sisters all my life. Then there’s exactly what Kiri said, the sisters of the heart. You do life with a partner, but you also do life with your closest girlfriends as well. And then there’s the sisterhood as a political movement, which is how I spend my time and money. I never realised it was wealthy women, often widows or heiress’s daughters, who funded the women’s right to vote in the US.”

Spread across six categories, the list of 30 New Zealand women we admire includes wāhine working in politics, entertainment, business, sport, arts and culture and around social issues.

The list is not ranked from 1 to 30. All the women on it have been included because they lead inspirational lives and, beyond their own achievements, devote themselves to empowering the lives and work of other women.