Past
Before establishment of NZAL on November 4, 2013, leadership and governance of New Zealand businesses was at odds with the way New Zealand wanted to do business with Asia. There was a noticeable lack of Asians in top leadership positions in New Zealand companies. Some New Zealand companies were also finding it difficult to identify and recruit Asian leaders to Boards and senior management.
Having identified this gap, NZAL was established to provide a place for Asian New Zealanders who were leaders in their fields, to enjoy peer to peer support and have visibility with New Zealand companies doing or wanting to do business with Asia. The role of NZAL is to build confidence in Asian New Zealand leaders to offer their expertise and to help them understand they have important expertise to add value to NZ Inc.
Present
The team at NZAL works closely with its members, sponsors , corporate members and supporters to identify areas of professional and business growth, with a focus on increasing diverse representation within businesses. With multiple public and NZAL members only events held throughout the year, the organisation provides leadership training in collaboration with the Superdiversity Centre, governance training, thought leading NZAL member only strategy sessions with sponsors and corporate members, speaking opportunities, mentoring programme and access to a network of leaders across industries.