Sue Tindal, Auckland Council's Group Chief Financial Officer, was today announced as a finalist in the annual Women of Influence New Zealand awards.
Sue was nominated in the Board and Management category for "how inspiring Sue has been as a role model to many females colleagues within council".
"The essence of her impact has been in her ability to lead by example and adopt a collaborative, teaming approach to addressing change and improvement in the council," her nomination reads.
The awards are hosted by Fairfax Media and Westpac, and the New Zealand Women of Influence programme "recognises and celebrates women from all walks of life who make a difference to everyday Kiwis".
"The Women of Influence programme is committed to increasing the visibility of women's leadership in New Zealand, highlighting the important contribution women take in creating a bold and diverse future for New Zealand," the organisations say.
In just under a year with the council, Sue has lead sustainable cost savings and change in the IT and procurement divisions. This has not previously been achieved since the council merged from eight into one, making Auckland Council the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
Sue is leading the highly-topical alternative sources of financing and funding review on behalf of Auckland Council. Through Sue’s efforts leading the review, she has successfully laid the platform to enable councillors to have a broader conversation about council-owned assets and the innovative options available to councillors and the community to help fund the city’s infrastructure investment requirements. This review is set to help the council achieve its Long-term Plan budget commitments.
In Procurement, Sue has worked with her GM of Procurement, Sara Hay, to undertake a ground-breaking programme which has already achieved benefits of $70 million in the six months to 30 June 2016. A further $80m in benefits are targeted for the 2016/17 financial year.
Her actions will have a lasting impact and are sustainable over the life of the Long-term Plan in delivering a better outcome for ratepayers.
Auckland Council Chief Executive Stephen Town says Sue's substantial impact across the council group in her first year has been outstanding.
"Sue has led the teams which renegotiated the terms of the council’s loan for electric trains to save nearly $60 million over the next 10 years, securing $70 million in procurement savings across the council family since January 2016, and reducing the council’s SAP costs by $33 million.
"Sue is an engaging and enthusiastic member of my Executive Leadership Team and a great role model for senior women at council," Stephen says.
Winners of the Women of Influence NZ awards will be announced October 12.
