15 November 2022
It’s the business world’s equivalent of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. And this month our board chair Ann Tod is being inducted into it – the North Harbour Business Hall of Fame.
Ann will join the likes of local North Shore business legends such as Sir Stephen Tindall, who this year received a Lifetime Achievement Award, as a laureate. Ann is the third of our board members to have been inducted; the late Sir David Levene and current trustee Ken Noble are also part of this prestigious group of business people, with many of our incredibly generous hospice supporters also laureates.
“It’s been an awesome year,” Ann laughs as she reflects on her latest achievement, which has come only months after being awarded a Queen’s Service Medal for her contribution to netball at national and international level as Finance Director for the World Netball Board and as a long-serving umpire at grassroots level.
The retired KPMG auditor is being recognised for her significant contribution to the charity sector. As the chair of the Harbour Hospice board, she has overseen some major developments in the five years she has dedicated to the board so far, including merging North Shore Hospice with local hospices on the Hibiscus Coast and in Warkworth/Wellsford to become one entity, Harbour Hospice, and the redevelopment of our North Shore site, which is scheduled to re-open four months ahead of schedule in mid-December.
Ann is also involved in five other boards: Make A Wish, the JR McKenzie Trust, The Lister Presbyterian Health Trust, Te Tuhi Contemporary Arts Trust and The Rotary Club of Auckland.
“It’s wanting to make a difference, wanting to be a great role model for younger women,” the mother of three adult daughters and grandmother of one says of her board work.
“Women tend to like to have all their ducks in a row and all the boxes ticked before they’ll put themselves forward. You’ve just got to trust your intuition and go for it – and remember that building strong relationships means everything. People really will help.”
After such a big year, the question begs, what’s next for Ann? “Oh, a nice quiet Christmas,” she laughs. “Plus an amazing opening for the North Shore redevelopment.”
