New Leadership Onboards in 2021

The Hillary Institute and its daughter organisation, the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF), recently announced two significant appointments:

New CEO - Rosalie Nelson

Rosalie is a well respected champion of New Zealand’s innovation sector. She has held previous executive and senior leadership roles in NZ and internationally in the technology and innovation sectors. Her most recent roles were at Callaghan Innovation, New Zealand’s Innovation Agency, and Chorus NZ, a publicly listed fibre network provider.

"I am incredibly excited and humbled by this opportunity to support EHF and the Hillary Institute to create impact for New Zealand. The ambition to see Aotearoa impacting the world through innovation founded on trust, kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga is powerful: right now we have an opportunity to tangibly reimagine our future in ways that build social, environmental and financial capital. My commitment is to work collaboratively with Fellows to co-design and execute new ways of unlocking this potential for New Zealand.

New Board Chair - Paul Atkins

Paul is the CEO of Zealandia, the world’s first pest-free biodiversity-sanctuary, and is an experienced director and Chair. He is currently Chair of the MacDiarmid Institute of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology. He has previously served as Chair of Mevo Ltd, New Zealand’s first electric car share company; Boutiq Science Ltd, a nanomaterials spinout company; and as Inaugural Chair of the New Zealand Smart Grid Forum.

Paul is deeply grounded in the culture and values of New Zealand through his 16 years working with leading companies in the New Zealand innovation and environmental sectors. He also retains a global perspective born from his 17 years as the Director of the British Council—during which he worked in 40+ countries—and continued through his routine hosting of global delegates at Zealandia.