Jan Dawson is an independent director from New Zealand and recipient of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

award.

Biography

Dawson was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and grew up in Blockhouse Bay and later North Shore. She attended university in Auckland and also worked part-time doing accounting work for real estate company Barfoot & Thompson and farm accounting in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

for a year. On returning to Auckland she completed her bachelor of commerce degree and worked at

Price Waterhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along ...

before moving to London. There, she worked in an investment bank and did auditing work for four years; she then moved to Vancouver, Canada and returned to New Zealand in 1986. In New Zealand, Dawson has held a number of governance positions including chair and chief executive for

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

New Zealand for five years until 2011, and board positions for Beca and

Goodman Fielder Goodman Fielder is an Australian manufacturer, marketer and distributor of bread, smallgoods, dairy products, margarine, oil, dressings and various food ingredients. Its main operations are in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, ...

. She has served as chair of

Westpac New Zealand Westpac New Zealand, known simply as Westpac, is a New Zealand bank that is a subsidiary of the Australian Westpac Banking Corporation. The bank is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking) , big four banks. It operates under the same brand as its ...

(until 2021) and deputy chair of

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 28 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily within the Pacific Rim. The airline h ...

, and as a director of

Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and i ...

and AIG Insurance New Zealand. Dawson is also on the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

council. Dawson has had an interest in sailing since she was a child and co-owns a match racer; in 2007 she was the skipper of a team who won the Zenza Women's National Keelboat Championships. She was the president and board chair of

Yachting New Zealand Yachting New Zealand is recognised by World Sailing as the governing body for the sport of sailing in New Zealand. Yachting New Zealand also facilitates training in sailing in and around the country. History The emigration of Robert Logan (Senio ...

for nine years to October 2013, and also held positions for the international sailing federation

World Sailing World Sailing is the international sports governing body for sailing (sport), sailing; it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). History The creation of the International Yac ...

. In 2013, she won the Excellence in Sports Governance Award at the inaugural Women in Governance Awards ceremony. In 2015 she was awarded life membership of Yachting New Zealand. In 2016, Dawson was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to governance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Jan Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit People from Auckland 21st-century New Zealand businesspeople