Christine Rankin

Christine Rankin was the former Chief Executive Officer of one of the largest government departments in New Zealand at the time, the Department of Work and Income, more commonly known as WINZ. She is perhaps best known for the high profile Employment Court case she took against the Crown following the non-renewal of her employment contract. Christine’s career achievements in over 20 years with the public service are remarkable. In 1978, having previously been receiving the Domestic Purposes Benefit, she joined the Department of Social Welfare as a temporary clerk. This was a turning point in her life, which led to an outstanding career in the public service. Excellent performance outcomes resulted in a series of promotions until in 1989 she took over the position of Director for the Auckland Central/Grey Lynn district. At 34 years of age, she was the youngest director in the country.

Later under her leadership as Regional Manager for Income Support, the Northern Region rapidly moved from being known as the worst performing region to become the best performing Income Support region. She was later appointed General Manager for Income Support and then Chief Executive of Work and Income New Zealand, responsible for around 5500 staff, from 1 October 1998 until May 2001. Christine currently has an HR Business and works as a life coach. She featured on a regular Friday morning Wellington radio show. She was also a regular panelist on How’s Life on TV1, which ran for two years. Christine’s column in the Weekend Herald reflects her values and beliefs. She speaks about these and other topics including leadership, passion, innovation, changing organisations, human behaviours and political/socio issues; as well as her own personal story about making it against the odds. Christine’s passion for leadership and her belief in the power of individual potential is the centre of her continuing work.