New Years Honors 2021: ‘accidental’ kiwi Suzanne Snively named honorary lady

Suzanne Snively’s move to New Zealand was supposed to be temporary.

But nearly 50 years later, the American-born economist is still here, and her contribution to the governance problems in Aotearoa has been recognized with one of the country’s most prestigious honors: being named an honorary companion of the New Order of Merit. Zeeland.

Snively is an honorary lady as she is not a New Zealand citizen. She has wanted to file the paperwork to become one for 30 years, but has been unable to do so.

Snively said she was “incredulous” at the news.

“It has not sunk yet. I don’t know when it will finally assimilate, ”he said. “I think the main thing I feel is that it is a recognition of those ideas that I have delivered since I have been in New Zealand, which were based on what a great place this is. I love this country. “

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Snively was president of the New Zealand chapter of the anti-corruption organization Transparency International, from 2011 until her retirement this month. This came after decades of work on integrity, accountability and good governance of the public and private sectors, including promoting anti-corruption mechanisms.

He has chaired the Public Sector Leaders Integrity Forum and chaired Reserve Bank reviews, and provided governance advice to institutions including ministries of transport and environment, Statistics New Zealand, Department of Conservation, schools polytechnics and health boards. He has also supported anti-corruption efforts throughout the Pacific.

Snively has also been president of the Women’s Refuge Foundation, Mary Potter Hospice, and Fulbright New Zealand, and has been involved in organizations such as the New Zealand Opera and the Alexander Turnbull Library Endowment Foundation.

Before coming to New Zealand in 1972 as a Fulbright scholar, Snively worked in the Office of Economic Opportunity, a US agency responsible for poverty alleviation.

The philosophy of the office was based on the “idealistic notion” that ensuring that people vote would change their lives in some way, but it was not successful.

So, he came to New Zealand, known for low unemployment and high living standards, looking for a better solution to the problem.

“I thought I had to go see what New Zealand’s secret is, so I could bring [that knowledge] to go back to America and change it for the better, ”he said in an interview at his home in downtown Wellington.

However, he found it difficult to be an American in New Zealand while the Vietnam War was still raging and decided to return to the United States.

Then days before her departure, Snively met the man who would become her husband, former TVNZ director Ian Fraser.

The couple settled in the Wellington suburb of Kelburn, where they raised their children. They still live there, in the villa they bought 40 years ago.

In 2005, Snively became an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to women and businesses, including her work to break the cycle of family violence and prevent type 2 diabetes.

Now that she is an honorary lady, Snively intends to help businessmen capitalize on New Zealand’s relatively low level of corruption.

Being a country of high “integrity” has tangible benefits, he said. For example, it could help New Zealand build its brand as an ethical place to do business, attract responsible international investors, and help the country retain millennial talent.