Mentors in Auckland

Anne Fitisemanu

CEO

Make A Wish

Annes work history spans across key sectors, notably health, tertiary education and NFPs. Driven by a deep-rooted commitment to break cycles, create opportunities and champion equity in the workplace and beyond Annes former role as the CEO for TupuToa focused on achieving equity through creating pathways for Māori and Pacific to access corporate Aotearoa. For this work she was awarded Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in May 2025.

Her passion for helping others stems from her Pacific cultural background and personal experience with economic hardship. As the newly appointed CEO for Make A Wish (MAW) Foundation NZ Anne hopes to further continue her commitment to purpose by ensuring the MAW Foundation serves all Aotearoa’s communities and enables more critically ill kiwi kids and opportunity to receive a wish.

Anne believes that by breaking through their own ceilings and taking on leadership roles she can establish solid foundations for the next generation to build upon.

Anne serves on a number of NFP boards the largest being Awhina Plunket where she is the first Pacific to be appointed. Anne is a member of the IOD, a proud mother of 7 adult children and 12 grandchildren.

We acknowledge all First Peoples of this land and celebrate their enduring connections to Country, knowledge and stories. We pay our respects to Elders and Ancestors past present and emerging.

< Links to articles on external sites or on MW site >

ARTICLES & LINKS

16,138 MENTEES

800+ MENTORS

83.5M STEPS TOGETHER

Content Marketer at Mentor Walks, Tess’s professional life is shaped by a desire to drive gender equality and build an inclusive society. Her passion and experience saw her lead the social media arm of the Teach Us Consent campaign, pulling mandatory consent education for Australian students over the line in March 2022.

She is currently completing her Bachelor of Communications (Social and Political Science) at UTS and is most energised and inspired when surrounded with powerhouse women.