Mark Powell, Chair of the Venn Foundation; Director of JB Hi-Fi, Kiwi Property Group, Trinity Lands; Board Member of the Parenting Place; CEO in Residence at Massey University, on why he is attending the Diverse Thinking Governance Summit on 19 November 2018 at Spark City, Auckland
“Our society, customers and wider stakeholders are increasingly diverse and our boards need to reflect this. I want to find out how this can be done well. I’m not interested in politically correct tokenism, but in genuinely harnessing the incredible range of talent and thinking we have in New Zealand. I want to learn more about how diverse voices can be present, encouraged, heard and synthesised well in the board room, so that well informed robust strategic choices can be made. Ultimately this will ensure greater clarity of purpose, principles and priorities for the organisations I’m involved with, contributing to sustainable enduring success. Beyond these pragmatic reasons, this is also an ethical issue. Coming from an industrial working class background in South Wales, being the first person in my family to stay on in education beyond 15 years old, I strongly believe in the inherent value and potential of all people. I feel incredibly privileged and with that comes a sense of responsibility to help others from all backgrounds realise their full potential. I’m sure the Summit will be thought provoking and help me in this journey.”