KPMG New Zealand Strengthens Leadership Capability Across The Firm

KPMG has announced the appointments of Stephanie Ward and Rachael Niao, who have recently joined the partnership. The appointments build on those announced earlier this year of Sarah McGrath, Jodi Newth, Nick Moss, Leon Bowker, and Mike Lowe. Together these appointments strengthen KPMG’s ambition to foster a partnership of diverse-thinking, industry-leading professionals, with a commitment to fuelling New Zealand’s prosperity.

KPMG CEO Godfrey Boyce says, “I am pleased to congratulate our newest partners formally. Their appointments reflect our firm’s determination to help New Zealand’s businesses succeed, the public sector to achieve more, and our communities to flourish.”

Stephanie and Rachael not only add their extensive expertise in both the public and private sectors to the partnership, but their appointments also signal a strengthening of the diverse leadership capability across the firm.

“At KPMG, we draw strength and mana from our different backgrounds and experiences. Our partners work shoulder-to-shoulder with clients and our communities, so it’s important that our leaders also reflect the clients we serve and the communities in which we live and work.”

“As growth mindset leaders who have outstanding reputations both globally and locally, I am proud to have Stephanie and Rachael at the table,” says Boyce.

Stephanie Ward, Partner Deal Advisory

Based in the Auckland office, Stephanie brings both a global and local lens to developing solutions for New Zealand’s complex infrastructure needs, having worked in Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Stephanie specialises in providing commercial and financial advice to central and local governments, focusing on infrastructure, urban development, and utilities, and working at the interface of the public and private sectors.

Prior to KPMG, Stephanie worked in commercial roles for the New Zealand Treasury and Her Majesty’s Treasury in the United Kingdom, where she was involved in developing the world’s first social impact bond. From there, she grew her interest in sustainable infrastructure. Since returning home, Stephanie has been applying her global experience to help make positive impacts on New Zealand cities, including work on the decarbonisation of the public bus fleet.

“Stephanie is highly regarded and is a sought-after influencer in her field. She has developed into a strong leader and has been an integral part of growing our infrastructure and government practices through fostering deep relationships with key industry stakeholders across the board,” says Boyce.

Rachael Niao, Partner Technology Consulting

Globally accomplished technology architect and digital strategist Rachael Niao has joined KPMG New Zealand, returning from working across Europe, Asia, and Australia. She also returns home to her Iwi; Ngati Awa, Tuhoe, Ngati Porou and Te Arawa.

Rachael’s primary focus is on digital transformation. She is looking forward to helping New Zealand organisations navigate old systems into the digital world, using intelligent and emerging technologies to achieve an effective continuous improvement and innovation culture.

Rachael’s experience has seen her lead numerous assurance and assessment engagements while gaining extensive experience developing digital strategies and roadmaps. She has also performed lead roles on sizable digital transformation programmes, including enterprise cloud, analytics, and mobility solutions.

Rachael is also deeply committed to inclusion and diversity, particularly with gender balance and the representation of minority groups. While in Asia Pacific and Europe, she has applied her experience working across cultures to generate better results for clients. She is excited to use the same philosophies to support and drive better outcomes for Māori.

“As we expand our digital and transformation capability, we are fortunate to have Rachael join the firm at such a critical time for our clients, communities, and New Zealand as a whole,” says Boyce.

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