John Blair
Board Chair
John served as General Counsel and Company Secretary at Air New Zealand for 21 years. He has considerable board level corporate governance expertise in the international airline industry and previously, with BTR plc, a major European manufacturing conglomerate. A professional non-executive director and private investor, John also has considerable experience in aviation and commercial insurance.
Qualified as a solicitor in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom, John has extensive commercial and corporate legal experience in Australasia, UK/Europe and the USA. Based in Auckland, John also serves in other corporate, advisory and governance roles that include Chair of the Listed Companies Association (New Zealand) and as a Trustee of the Air New Zealand Environment Trust. John joined the Board and the Audit and Risk Management Committee of New Zealand Medical Indemnity Insurance Ltd in December 2017 and was elected Chairman in August 2018.
Deborah Powell
Director
Whilst Deborah has a BSc and Diploma in Industrial Relations from Victoria University of Wellington, and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Auckland, that doesn’t tell the whole story by a long shot.
In the 30 years since Deborah left clinical medicine practice, she has negotiated hundreds of Collective Employment Agreements, represented countless doctors and health practitioners in situations involving their working and professional lives, and worked continuously to improve the environment in which they work.
Whilst she has a long history of advocating on behalf of the medical and health practitioners she represents through NZRDA and APEX (New Zealand’s specialist allied scientific and technical practitioners’ union), Deborah’s current interests include the health of the health workforce, and health and safety.
Deborah is passionate about creating a safe and rewarding environment within which health professionals can do their best for their patients, but also within which their own wellbeing is protected.
Tony Driscoll
Director
Finance Committee Chair
Tony brings experience in financial and corporate management. Tony has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Auckland and is a member of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand.
After qualifying, Tony worked for a major international Chartered Accounting firm in New Zealand and London. He then worked in senior accounting roles in the corporate sector in both the professional services and food industries. Tony has also worked across South East Asia.
He is currently employed by an Investment Trust which operates across the wine sector. The Trust also has significant investments in financial markets.
Tony is an independent director of the NZMII Board, which he joined in November 2012. He is Chair of the Finance sub-committee and a member of the Audit and Risk Management sub-committee.
David Leather
Director
Audit & Risk Management Chair
David has 40 years’ experience in the fire and general insurance industry, managing businesses for international brokers and underwriters. David has been involved in designing large and complex insurance programs for clients as well as developing business operating models for insurance companies and facilitating reinsurance programs. In addition to David serving as a Non-Executive Director to NZMII, he is the CEO of a specialist insurer underwriting risks on behalf of Lloyd’s of London.
Jessica Schade
CEO
Jessica has been working in the insurance industry for 15 years across Australia and New Zealand. A Chartered Accountant with a background in Finance and Economics, Jessica has been forming and managing Captive Insurance Companies for major New Zealand and Australian clients since 2007. Widely considered as the foremost expert in New Zealand in this space, her advisory services on Alternative Risk Transfer solutions are sought after by boards, management teams and external advisors representing a variety of international corporates, financial institutions and membership bodies.
Jessica and her team currently manage many captive insurance companies across New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Bermuda and Australia, ensuring compliance with all regulatory requirements, analysing underwriting exposure, monitoring capital and solvency adequacy, and compliance with insurance legislation. Jessica provided advice to the NZMII Board from 2007 and in April 2018 she commenced the role of NZMII CEO.
