Theresa Gattung
Business Leader & Philanthropist, Gattung Foundation
Dame Theresa Gattung DNZM is a New Zealand business leader, philanthropist and governance figure. As chief executive of Telecom (now Spark) from 1999 to 2007, she became the first woman to lead a major NZX-listed company in New Zealand.
After leaving Telecom, Gattung moved away from the single-company model and built a portfolio across business, philanthropy and advocacy. She co-founded My Food Bag in 2012 with Cecilia Robinson and Nadia Lim, chairs the primary healthcare company Tend, and brought the global women's funding initiative Coralus (formerly SheEO) to New Zealand, where it funded more than 25 female-led ventures through interest-free loans.
In 2021 she and her family established the Gattung Foundation, supporting causes across education, communities, animal welfare and reducing inequality. She also funded the Chair of Women in Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland Business School. In December 2025 she received an honorary doctorate in commerce from Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington.
Gattung was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in 2015 and elevated to Dame Companion (DNZM) in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours, for services to women, governance and philanthropy.
Theresa features in our look at the NZ women who redefined success on their own terms.
Sources: DPMC · Gattung Foundation · Global Women · Wikipedia
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