Get to know the NZAL membership, and more

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An evening with Hon. Iain Lees-Gallaoway

Thursday evening saw NZAL members and supporters share their insights with the Hon. Iain Lees-Gallaoway on the government's workplace health and safety relations. Hosted by NZAL corporate member, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, the session also included four NZAL members, Mikee Santos, Chairperson, Migrante Aotearoa, Jacob Mani Mannothra, Director, Zindia Ltd, Jenny Lim, ActivAsian Lead, Harbour Sport and Jade Leung, Project Consultant, Vector Limited, sharing their own perspectives from within their business, with the session facilitated by NZAL Chair and founder, Mai Chen. The Minister said he appreciated hearing from top Asian leaders about health and safety issues from their perspective and on behalf of their communities.

Discussing the Government’s Health and Safety Strategy, and the broader work in the Workplace Relations portfolio, the Hon. Iain Lees-Gallaoway's address focused on the various communities in Auckland and the different perspectives and attitude towards health and safety. He touched upon the government embarking on a health and safety strategy that sets out goals and priorities to drive sustained, system-wide improvements to NZ’s work related health, injury and fatality rates, including NZ’s ethnic workers.

This was followed by NZAL members, Mikee Santos, Chairperson, Migrante Aotearoa, Jacob Mani Mannothra, Director, Zindia Ltd, Jenny Lim, ActivAsian Lead, Harbour Sport and Jade Leung, Project Consultant, Vector Limited speaking about health and safety issues in different industries that they work in, along with the health and safety measurements.

The session was closed by Sameer Handa, Deputy Chair, NZ Asian Leaders and Managing Director, Glowbal NZ.

Mikee Santos, Chairperson, Migrante Aotearoa highlighted his story and the working conditions of various Filipino workers in New Zealand. Migrante Aotearoa is the a grass-root, non-profit organisation that advances the rights and welfare of Filipinos and other Migrants in New Zealand.

A Malaysian-born Kiwi whose career in sport and recreation started when she was 16, Jenny Lim is the ActiveAsian Lead at Harbour Sports. With an aim to increase Asian participation in sports, Jenny touched upon a few initiatives and programmes created to observe health and safety on and off the sport field.

Jacob Mani Mannothra, Director, Zindia Ltd spoke about the high serious harm and injuries within the forestry sector, best practices observed by his company, and what is the new research, development and innovation needed within the sector to safeguard their working environment.

An HR practitioner, Jade Leung, Project Consultant at Vector Limited spoke about the need for human understanding within organisations and a strategy to create health and safety practices based upon knowledge of different cultures.

Get to know the NZAL Membership

There are currently 265 top Asian leaders within the NZAL membership across Established, Emerging, Young and International categories. The membership to date includes 15 Asian ethnicities, Indian, Malaysian, Korean, Sri Lankan, Singaporian, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Japanese, Filipino, Thai, Bangaladeshi, Iranian and Chinese.

NZAL is focused on identifying leaders from different communities and regions of New Zealand. 35 NZAL members are either chairs or board of directors on corporate, not-for-profit or community boards. 29 members have founded one or more organisation and 34 members are Chief Executives or Managing Directors of organisations.

The membership covers a vast spectrum of industries and organisations which results in a wealth of knowledge and experience to contribute to back to New Zealand. We rely on our membership to identify and endorse potential members to ensure we are inclusive of all Asian ethnic communities.

Announcing New Emerging Leaders

(L -R) Mikee Santos, Chairperson, Migrante Aotearoa, Venus Sood-Guy, Member Board Of Directors at Abbeyfield NZ, Serena Sii, Partner Account Manager, MYOB, Nissy Concisom, Community Care Manager, St John, Steven Yin, Director, New World Metro Queen St, Lynette Forday, Actor, Writer

NZAL Member News

Congratulations to NZAL Deputy Chair, Sameer Handa on being announced as one of the top 25 most influential people at the NZ Indian Hall of Fame awards in Auckland!

The list of top 25 influencers covers leaders from across industries who have continued to be instrumental in bilateral relations between New Zealand and India.

Upcoming Event
Diverse Thinking Governance Summit 2018

The Superdiversity Institute invites NZ Asian Leaders members and supporters to the inaugural Diverse Thinking Governance Summit 2018 that passes on the wisdom and guidance in the Diverse Thinking Capability Audit of New Zealand Boardrooms 2018 © on how to grow Diverse Thinking. With a lot of networking opportunity and a chance to gain insights from industry leaders, this summit will help you grow your governance knowledge.

Date: Monday, September 19, 2018

Who should attend this summit?

This is a must-attend event for established and emerging Chairs and Directors, and Chief Executives and Senior Managers looking to grow the critical competency of diverse thinking to enhance their governance career.

What you will learn?

The skills that Chairs need to encourage diverse thinkers amongst their Board, and the skills that Directors need to be diverse thinkers;
To grow your Diverse Thinking capability as a Chair or Director;
How Diverse Thinking Directors can be most effective;
What is a Diverse Thinking Matrix, and how to use it alongside a Skills Matrix; and
Key criteria to measure Diverse Thinking on Boards.

Find out more

NZAL Member Spotlight - Mikee Santos

Chairperson, Migrante Aotearoa

Can you share your journey to date with us?
My life-long passion has always been taking care of people. This lead to a decade-long and very successful career in the hospitality industry. I have a solid background in hotel management ; from The Pan Pacific Manila to luxury global chains such as The Venetian Macau, Sofitel and The Marriott.

Activism has been an integral part of who I am. I hold a bachelor degree in political science, led my university's student organisation, and was heavily involved in several campaigns for social justice and equality.

I immigrated to Auckland in 2013 with my family, but the my passion for people still remains. Ive shifted from hospo and now translate this drive into advocating for workers and migrants rights and welfare through my work with Migrante Aotearoa and First Union.

What drives you in your work with Migrante Aotearoa?0

Migrants should be helping migrants. If you experience hardship in your journey, I believe that the best way to give back is to pave a better bath for incoming ones.

I migrated to Auckland from Manila in 2013, where my vulnerability as a migrant lead to exploitation. I was a one of the countless who got victimised, and unfairly treated by their employers. Everyday, I meet fellow migrants from diverse backgrounds who our organisation tries to assist in their plight. Sadly, the narrative and feelings are all too familiar. This motivates me to ensure that others don’t share the same experience.

My story isn’t an isolated one. I know Im not alone, and there are thousands of Migrants being exploited, underpaid and even abused. There are a plethora of issues Migrants face when trying to integrate to new communities which makes them more vulnerable to oppression. Stories of exploitation need to be shared and heard. If we let their voices drown out, nothing will change. I want people to hear my story so they can see that there is "life at the end of the tunnel" and that they can break the cycle of exploitation and believe they are worth something.

Have you seen any change good/bad in the work you do?

Through collective work, Migrante Aotearoa made a lot of progress, but there is still so much work to be done. We’ve run successful, nationwide campaigns for protecting and advancing migrants rights. Our programmes are wide ranging — From helping Filipino’s on International students Visa through info-session and programs like IELTS seminar, how to make a CV, how to pass a driving test, how to pass an interview, etc. to campaigns against Education trafficking (Exploitation on migrants holding Student visas)

We’ve also established Migrant Builders Aotearoa for Filipino migrant builders. Through collaboration with Union Network of Migrants (UNEMIG) and First Union, we’ve stood for Filipino workers who are working at dodgy labour hire companies. Currently, Migrante Aotearoa is campaigning for a 3 year work visa to be offered to builders who holds a 1 year visa.

Mai Chen
Chair - NZ Asian Leaders

NZ Asian Leaders Advisory Board Members
Sameer Handa - Deputy Chair
Ziena Jalil
Terry Lee
Lisa Li
Carolyn Luey
Mitchell Pham
Ming Lim-Pollard
Nikhil Ravishankar
Brijesh Sethi
Steven Song
David Tse

Karinia Lee - Chief Executive
Priti Garude - Marketing & Communications Manager