Pasifika TV director Caren Rangi ONZM, appointed as Chair of the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

Caren Rangi. Source: Creative New Zealand

Creative New Zealand recently announced that Caren Rangi ONZM has been appointed as the new Chair of the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.

Ms Rangi will be the first Pacific Chair and third woman to hold this role of Chair of the Arts Council in its 55-year history.

She is a founding director on the Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL) board, following our establishment in 2015.

The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa. Source: Creative New Zealand

“We are thrilled with Caren’s appointment as the new Chair the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa. This is such a historic achievement of being the first Pacific chair,” says PCBL CEO Natasha Meleisea.

“We celebrate her success and hope that it will inspire other Pacific Peoples to strive for key governance roles.”

Ms Rangi was appointed to the Creative New Zealand board in 2014. She has been Deputy Chair from 2017 and was acting Chair since December 2020.

Caren Rangi. Source: Mark Tantrum

“I’m thrilled to be taking up this Chair position. I look forward to being not just the first and only Pacific person in this role, but the first of many Pacific peoples to hold a key governance role in the public sector,” says Ms Rangi.

Ms Rangi is an experienced public sector governance practitioner and a qualified chartered accountant. Ms Rangi is proud of her Cook Islands heritage and passionate about Cook Islands arts and culture.

In 2018, she was conferred with an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to governance and the Pacific community. That same year she received the Linden Estate Hawke’s Bay Business Leader of the Year award. In 2016 her service to governance and leadership was recognised when she was awarded the New Zealander of the Year Local Hero Award.

Caren Rangi’s governance roles include:

* Chair of the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa

* Chair of Pacific Homecare Services

* Director of Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited

* Director of Pacific Inc.

* Director of the Cook Islands Investment Corporation in Rarotonga – a statutory Corporation of the Cook Islands Government.

* Board member of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

* Board member of Radio New Zealand