Chairman John Waller said the appointment aligns with BNZ’s mission of supporting a higher-achieving New Zealand.
“Mai Chen is an outstanding New Zealand leader, combining expertise in public law with wide-ranging commercial experience. She will bring fresh and diverse views to board discussions, alongside the formal business of our board.
Chen has acted as an adviser to government ministers on major legislative and policy changes, and chaired government reviews, lectured at leading universities and authored many books. She has established influential not-for-profit leadership organisations for women, Asian New Zealanders and Pasifika.
“She has pioneered the practice of public law in New Zealand, including co-founding Chen Palmer, a leading law firm specialising in public and administrative law, legislation and public policy as well as employment law,” Waller said.
Chen has served on the Securities Commission and on the advisory board of AMP Life, on the NZ Board of Trade and Enterprise’s Beachheads programme, on the Asia New Zealand Foundation board, the Royal NZ Ballet board, and on university and polytechnic councils. She was also inaugural chair of NZ Global Women, is the current chair of NZ Asian Leaders and was instrumental in establishing the BEST Pasifika Leadership Programme.
She is currently managing partner at Chen Palmer and an adjunct professor at the University of Auckland Law School.
“I cannot think of a company that better aligns with my own diversity values while also being at the heart of a key New Zealand industry,” Chen said.
“I relish the challenge of working in a sector subject to so much disruption and fast-paced change. The challenge of demographic disruption is as important as technological disruption, especially in a super-diverse market like Auckland.
“As a BNZ board member I look forward to contributing my years of experience in strategic problem-solving, in running a successful business, and in innovating new services, products and organisations, as well as my expertise in managing regulatory risk, and in showing the relevance of ‘cultural intelligence’ to large organisations,” she said.
