Fonterra’s Sustainability Advisory Panel meets twice a year.
This includes external experts who provide independent advice to Fonterra’s Board and Management on the Co-op’s strategy, targets and initiatives that relate to economic, social and environmental sustainability.
Chair of the Sustainability Advisory Panel
Bridget Coates is Chairperson of White Cloud Dairy Innovation, which recently launched a new consumer dairy brand into the US market (Kura Nutrition) based on high quality NZ dairy and plant proteins and other nutritional ingredients.
Bridget was formerly Director of the New York-based 212° Equity Management LLC, a private equity company which invested in high growth businesses, primarily in the healthy living space. Bridget was inaugural Chair of ArcAngels in New Zealand, an angel group focusing on women-led growth companies and she retains a portfolio of early and growth-stage investments in the US and in New Zealand.
She is also a Director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and of Tegel Group Holdings Ltd., and Chair of Tegel’s Audit Committee.
Bridget has been a Director of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund as well as public companies, Sky City Limited and Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Limited. She was formerly CEO of Carter Holt Harvey Plastic Products and Director of Research for CS First Boston NZ Ltd as well as a Member of the University of Auckland Council. Bridget was the inaugural Chair of THE ICEHOUSE.
Bridget has also held Board governance roles with Industry New Zealand, a national economic development agency; Competitive Auckland Ltd, a regional economic development organisation; and Auckland Uniservices Ltd, a technology transfer company. She holds degrees in economics and finance and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst qualification: she is a Chartered Member of Institute of Directors.
Sustainability Advisory Panel
Paul Gilding has over 40 years’ experience across a range of industries. He’s served in the Australian military, been global CEO of Greenpeace, taught at the University of Cambridge, started two successful companies and has advised the CEOs of some of the world’s largest corporations. Paul is also the author of a seminal book on economics and sustainability.
He is a Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). In this role, he researches and lectures on “Radical Innovation – Accelerating Clean Disruption” exploring the inherent market disruption in transforming the global economy to address system-wide sustainability risks.
As a corporate advisor, he has worked with the Boards and Executives of many companies including Unilever, BHP Billiton, Royal DSM, DuPont, Ford Motor Company.
As an author and advocate, he has written a range of seminal journal papers and articles, including “The Mother of All Conflicts” on climate change and security and “The One Degree Plan War Plan” (with J Randers) on mobilising the global economy and society to address climate change. His book “The Great Disruption” has been widely acclaimed.
He has been CEO of a range of innovative social enterprises and NGOs including Greenpeace International, Ecos Corporation and Easy Being Green. He recently co-founded Disruptive Consulting and the Changing Markets Foundation. He lives on a farm in Tasmania, Australia with his wife and children.
Sustainability Advisory Panel
Aroha Te Pareake Mead (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou) is a Research Associate specialising in mātauranga Māori/indigenous knowledge, biocultural heritage and indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights.
She is Chair Emeritus of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP). Aroha also served as the Chair of the CEESP from 2008-2016 and has held governance positions in the IUCN and with Greenpeace New Zealand.
She is passionate about sustainable development, participatory conservation and improved ways of using and respecting nature’s contribution to people.
Aroha is on the Kahui Māori of Genomics Aotearoa and the Kahui of the Deep South (Climate Change) National Science Challenge. Her previous roles include being Director of Māori Business in the Management School of Victoria University of Wellington, Policy Manager and Policy Principal with Te Puni Kokiri (Cultural Heritage & Indigenous Issues Unit).
Sustainability Advisory Panel
Corrigan is a third generation Fonterra farmer, living in the small rural community of Golden Bay, top of South Island. He farms with his brother & parents where he is a partner and manager of the family’s 400ha dairy farming business which is a mix of dairy (750 cows) and beef & high value wagyu.
He is a graduate of Massey University with a Bachelor of Applied Science. Awarded Nuffield NZ Farming Scholar 2019. Former consulting officer with DairyNZ and Farm consultant with FarmRight in Canterbury.
Corrigan is the Chair and Independent Director of the South Island Dairy Development Centre (SIDDC) which operates the Lincoln University Dairy Farm. Deputy Chair of the DairyNZ Dairy Environmental Leaders Forum, an initiative to foster and strengthen environmental stewardship and community leadership amongst New Zealand Dairy Farmers. Former Deputy leader of the Dairy Environment Leaders Group. Participated in Fonterra’s development of our Purpose.
Nuffield scholarship is called “Farming in a Pressure Cooker”
Sustainability Advisory Panel
In his third phase of life Morgan chaired the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in NZ for eight years until May 2019 and currently chairs the Nominations Committee of the WWF International Council.
He also chairs the Cawthron Foundation, the philanthropic arm of NZ’s largest private research organisation, a Water Futures group that fosters the development of resilient water systems and is a member of the Dairy Tomorrow Steering Group.
Other engagements include judging the annual Aggregate and Quarry Association environmental excellence Awards since 2008 and Chairing an MPI committee allocating erosion control funding to Councils. International work has included leading a team from the Bertelsmann Stiftung Foundation, in Germany, to judge a Tasmanian entry in the global Reinhard Mohn Prize 2013, a prize for Strategies for a Sustainable Future. Dr Williams completed 10 years as NZ’s Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) in March 2007.
Prior to this he held research and policy roles in agriculture, in the public and private sector, worked widely in the South Pacific, undertook research in Antarctica and represented NZ research interests internationally. Lincoln University awarded Morgan an honorary doctorate in Natural Resources in 2004 and in the 2020 New Year Honours Morgan was awarded the Queens Service Order (QSO) for services to the State and the environment. Morgan grew up on a dairy farm near Kaiapoi in Canterbury - NZ.
He has degrees in ecology from the Universities of Canterbury (BSc and MSc) and Bath, UK (PhD). He shares his environmental and sustainability interests with his wife Pam who completed a PhD in 2008 in the field of tertiary education for sustainability.