Make-A-Wish New Zealand Announces The Appointment Of New CEO

Make-A-Wish New Zealand is delighted to announce the appointment of its new CEO, Anne Fitisemanu.

Anne comes from eight years as CEO of the Māori and Pacific corporate leadership development organisation, TupuToa. During her tenure she grew the start-up to become Aotearoa’s leading agency placing Māori and Pacific graduates in professional corporate roles.

With Anne’s leadership, TupuToa grew dramatically from an internship cohort of 28 in 2016 to 280 placements today, with hundreds more in new programmes. Corporate and government partners increased from 20 to more than 180 over the same period, including global partners, community, iwi, and tertiary education providers.

Make-A-Wish Foundation chair, Struan Abernethy, is excited about the leadership and CEO experience that Anne brings.

“Anne’s experience and network in corporate New Zealand is compelling. We have an opportunity to tell the Make-A-Wish story more strongly and we see Anne as helping us significantly on that journey.”

Struan says increasing the Make-A-Wish profile in Aotearoa helps to fulfil its mission to deliver more wishes to critically ill children throughout the country.

He says the organisation is on a journey to grow its Diversity and Inclusion strategies and sees Anne as a key enabler in this.

Anne says the fact Make-A-Wish is purpose driven attracted her.

“If I can see myself in the purpose, to me then it is not a job. It is simply a continuation of life-work balance.”

Anne says, as a mother, the fact none of her seven children and eleven grandchildren have suffered any illnesses is a blessing she doesn’t take forgranted.

“Being able to give back and help families with sick children is core to my purpose. Make-A-Wish dreams plant seeds of hope. People are taken away from the pain for a little while. Granting a wish for a child impacts the whole whānau and has a ripple effect across communities.”

Anne says she plans to bring her kete of super powers and learnings gained from TupuToa to put into practice in a new setting at Make-A-Wish.

“I can bring a stronger focus towards indigenous communities, whether that be Māori, Pacific, Asian, Indian or others, as a way to include all Aotearoa’s diverse communities in the wonderful Make-A-Wish kaupapa.”

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