Dame Therese Maria Walsh (born ) is a chief executive and business leader from New Zealand. Her particular successes include her roles as the chief operating officer for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

and head of the organising body for the

2015 Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Aust ...

, held in Australia and New Zealand.

Career

Walsh was born and grew up in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

where she went to school at St Mary's College before studying accounting at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

. She started her professional life as a chartered accountant and auditor at

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 ...

in the city. In 2003 she moved to work for the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it b ...

as general manager of corporate services and later as chief financial officer, and was then appointed to the team that worked on the winning bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Following her success with New Zealand rugby, Walsh became a director of

New Zealand Cricket New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New ...

. She was the head of New Zealand's 2015 Cricket World Cup campaign and successfully negotiated for New Zealand to host a significant number of the games and events, including a semifinal held in Auckland, and the opening ceremony held in Christchurch. Walsh serves on the boards of NZX, ASB, and

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 ...

. She was chair of

Television New Zealand Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, TVNZ+, streaming service, and 1N ...

from 2015 to 2019 and has chaired the Air New Zealand board since September 2019. She is also a member of the Government’s Major Events Investment Panel, chairs the International Development Advisory and Selection Panel for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and serves on the Government’s Strategic Risk and Resilience Panel. She is a trustee of

Wellington Regional Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (commercially known as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situ ...

, and a Victoria University Council member. Walsh is also an ambassador for the Wellington Homeless Women’s Trust.

Recognition

In 2005, Walsh was the regional winner of the NZIM Young Executive of the Year Award. In 2013, Walsh received the New Zealand Women of Influence Supreme Award in recognition of her impact at local, regional and national levels. In 2014 she received a Blake Leader Award, and in the

2015 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours were awarded as ...

, she was appointed a

Dame Companion 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 on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

for services to sports administration.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Therese 1970s births Living people Businesspeople from Wellington City 21st-century New Zealand people Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand women chief executives New Zealand women in business Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand Women of Influence Award recipients Year of birth missing (living people)