EQC Board appoints Tina Mitchell as new chief executive
Earthquake Commission Board Chair Mary-Jane Daly is pleased to announce the appointment of Tina Mitchell as the organisation’s new Chief Executive.
Mitchell currently holds the role of EQC’s Chief Strategy Officer, leading the delivery of strategy, policy, government relations, communications, stakeholder engagement and legal services across the business and externally.
Mitchell has a strong background in transformation programmes, law, policy, and dispute resolution. She brings financial services experience from former roles at ACC and the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, where she was Deputy Ombudsman, and operational delivery experience from transformation work at ACC.
EQC Board Chair Mary-Jane Daly said Mitchell was selected from a strong list of applicants, and brought a stellar mix of skills in leadership, operational expertise, and stakeholder engagement to the role.
“We’re thrilled to be appointing Tina to the role of Chief Executive,” she said. “She is an excellent leader, who is highly- respected by the team across EQC and our stakeholders. We are really looking forward to what she’ll achieve in the new role and how she will take EQC forward.”
“Having worked closely with Tina over the past two years, we know she shares the Board’s commitment to improving New Zealanders’ readiness and resilience to natural hazards, and for ensuring the country’s natural disaster insurance scheme can take care of communities when the next disaster strikes.”
Daly said Mitchell had worked closely with the Board over the past two years to support the development of EQC's strategic direction, as well as leading work to build EQC’s cultural capability and implementing the Recommendations from the Public Inquiry into EQC. “We are looking forward to the energy and expertise that Tina will bring to the role as we continue to evolve and grow,” Daly said.
Mitchell said she was honoured to take up the position during an exciting time of change for the organisation.
“EQC has changed significantly over the past decade to become a modern, agile organisation, with world-leading expertise in insurance, finance, science, and customer service. All of our services are centred on the customer - leveraging what we know about New Zealand's natural hazards and how we can help people recover when a natural disaster occurs. We’re in a great space, and there’s lots more to do.”
“I am really looking forward to leading EQC through the exciting work programme ahead, including continuing to mature the world-first partnership we have established with private insurers, on-going work to provide support for Cantabrians, implementing changes the Government is proposing for our legislation, growing our cultural capability and our understanding of te ao Māori, and continuing our work to improve New Zealand’s resilience against future natural disasters.”
Mitchell will take up the position from 17 January 2022, replacing current chief executive Sid Miller, who announced his resignation in August.
Notes:
- The country’s EQC scheme was set up in 1945 to provide affordable natural disaster insurance to help communities recover from natural disasters. Today, EQC’s mission still reflects that same commitment: to reduce the impact on people and property when natural disasters occur.
- EQC invests in natural disaster research and education to help communities to reduce their risks, and we provide natural disaster insurance cover for damage to residential properties caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hydrothermal activity, tsunamis, as well as damage to land from storms and floods.