- Women now chair 48% of Champion boards, up from 31% year on year, compared with 30% across the NZX50
- Māori representation on Champion boards is at its highest level since reporting began
- The annual report reflects Champions’ continued commitment to measuring progress and driving more diverse leadership across the collective
Champions for Change has today released its 2026 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Impact Report, revealing significant gains for women at board level; the highest Māori board representation since reporting began and Champion workforces that are now collectively more ethnically diverse than New Zealand’s population.
The ninth annual report marks 11 years of Champions for Change, a collective of leading CEOs and Chairs anchored by Global Women. Member organisations commit to and publicly reporting of diversity data to drive progress towards more representative leadership across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Champions for Change measures gender balance through the 40:40:20 framework, which sets an aspiration of at least 40% women and 40% men at every level of an organisation, with the remaining 20% acting as a flexibility buffer for either women or men.
Women now chair 48% of Champion boards, up from 31%, and well ahead of the 30% recorded across the NZX50.
By publishing both the gains and the areas where results have stalled or moved backwards, Champions aim to reinforce the importance of transparency. Organisations can only manage what they measure and sustain change by acting on that data year after year.
Key findings from the 2026 report include:
- Four Champions have achieved full 40:40:20 gender balance across their board, executive leadership and management levels: ANZ, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Kiwibank and Mercury.
- A growing group of Champion organisations have women in both the chair and chief executive roles: ASB, Westpac, EY, Spark and Auckland Airport. In the public and community sectors, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and Bay of Plenty Regional Council are also led by wāhine in both roles.
- Four Champions have made rapid year-on-year progress in the gender composition of their boards:
- Bay of Plenty Regional Council increased women’s representation from 7% to 43%; One New Zealand from 11% to 50%; BNZ from 25% to 50%; and Buddle Findlay from 33% to 67%, making it a women-majority board.
- Three organisations have been recognised for achieving gender-balanced boards in industries with historically male-dominated workforces:
- KiwiRail, Fletcher Building and Fonterra all have gender-balanced boards, despite operating in sectors where women remain significantly underrepresented across the wider workforce.
- NZTE, Bay of Plenty Regional Council and MinterEllisonRuddWatts report women majorities at key leadership levels:
- Women hold 71% of executive leadership roles and 59% of management roles at NZTE; 57% of executive leadership roles at Bay of Plenty Regional Council; and 62% of management roles at MinterEllisonRuddWatts.
- Champion workforces are now collectively more ethnically diverse than New Zealand’s population, while Māori representation on Champion boards is at its highest level since reporting began.
- However, senior leadership across the collective remains predominantly NZ European.
- Despite the gains at board level, Māori representation across leadership remains below its share of the wider population, at around 11% compared with 15%.
- The data also suggests that who holds the gate matters: in 90% of cases where the chair is a man, the chief executive is also a man. Where the chair is a woman, chief executive representation is considerably more balanced.
Carrie Hurihanganui, CEO of Auckland Airport and Co-Chair of Champions for Change says:
“Women now chair close to half of Champion boards. That is a significant shift and clear evidence that sustained focus makes a difference.
“But progress isn’t always linear. The decline in gender balance at management and executive levels is a clear signal that we must keep strengthening the pipeline into senior leadership.
“We know that intentional action on supporting pathways into leadership works. We need to keep prioritising the work that protects the gains already made and builds on them year after year.”
Roger Gray, CEO of Port of Auckland and Co-Chair of Champions for Change says:
“This report isn’t about patting ourselves on the back – and that is the point. Honest measurement shows us both where the work is making a difference and where greater focus is needed.
“This year’s ethnicity data tells a clear story: our workforces are diverse, but our leadership is not equally representative. That is a progression challenge the data shows that Champion organisations can actively address.
“Tracking these numbers year after year gives organisations the evidence to act. By continuing to prioritise this work and acknowledge the blind spots, we can keep shifting the dial towards a workforce, leadership pipeline and executive table that reflect all of Aotearoa New Zealand.”
The report also highlights where measurement must improve, particularly across disability, neurodiversity, pay equity, progression and belonging.
The full 2026 Champions for Change Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Impact Report is available here.
