Ms Sharon Shea has a BA/LLB (Auckland) and a Masters in Comparative Social Policy (Distinction) from Oxford University. Ms Shea has significant governance and leadership experience across the health, disability and community sectors. She lives in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland.
She is has been a Board member and Sub-Committee Chair at both Auckland DHB and Northland DHB. She has also been a Board member of several primary health, community health and private sector organisations including NZ Railways Corporation, Alliance Health Plus PHO and an IT start-up.
Ms Shea was Chair of the Māori Expert Advisory Group on the Health and Disability Sector Review. Previous roles in health management have included regional and national roles in Māori health strategy, funding, Māori provider and workforce development (as part of government sector agencies).
Ms Shea is the owner/operator of a private public sector management consulting company, Shea Pita & Associates Ltd, and has extensive experience in system and service design, strategy, outcomes-based commissioning and data. Ms Shea’s experience is extensive in the health sector, and she also offers experience across education, corrections, justice, social services and broader Māori development/Whanau Ora and Whanau Resilience/Manawaroa.
Ko te pae tawhiti, whāia kia tata, o te pae tata, whakamaua kia tīna
Seek out distant horizons and cherish those you attain.
I believe in the following: how we treat people, matters; how we think and act matters; what we do, matters and how we serve others, matters. Inherent in this whakaaro, is a belief that implementing Te Tiriti o Waitangi with integrity is a powerful disruptor for positive good. Accordingly, any opportunity to provide leadership which supports transforming intergenerational cycles of disadvantage to advantage, and to support enduring and positive intergenerational change, matters to me.
As a proud New Zealander and a proud indigenous woman and one-day grandmother, I would like to see every mokopuna in Aotearoa New Zealand flourishing, thriving, and realising the rangatiratanga they were born with. Persistent, unfair, and unjust inequities are an anathema to mokopuna oranga and the fabric of New Zealand’s society.
As Kiwis, we need to harness our aspiration to support and enhance the success and wellbeing of all New Zealanders and a big part of this is showcasing and cherishing the beauty and wisdom abundant in te ao Māori. Proactive, mutually supportive, and innovative relationships between Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti are our future. We should embrace the change and reflect it within our new outcome-focused and equitable health system.