Professional director Dame Alison Paterson (pictured, right) has been honoured for Outstanding Contribution to Finance and Business. The award was presented last evening at the annual CFO Summit in Auckland, by Stellar Consulting general manager Nicholas Glanfield.
A chartered accountant, Dame Alison is an independent director of Vector Ltd and chair of BPAC New Zealand Limited, Farm IQ Limited, Stevenson Agriculture Limited, the Governing Board of the Centre of Research Excellence for Growth and Development (University of Auckland) and KiwiSaver provider Kiwi Wealth Limited. She is also a member of the Health Quality and Safety Commission.
Among her many “firsts,” she was the first female board member of a New Zealand public company, the first female chair of a chamber of commerce branch, and first female member of an agricultural producer board. She is a former chair of Landcorp and former deputy chair of the Reserve Bank.
She was named a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) for services to business in the 2014 New Year Honours list.
The other individual winners at the awards were Jennifer Whooley (pictured, centre) of NZX-listed Stride Property Group, who was named CFO of the Year, and Hannah Howard (pictured, left) of My Food Bag, who was named Emerging Financial Manager of the Year.
The award for Finance Team of the Year went to Air New Zealand, while the National Fieldays Society won the award for Financial Innovation Project of the Year.