My Account
Child Cancer Foundation chief executive Monica Briggs of Ōrewa was named in the 2024 New Year Honours list for services to women and governance.
Monica, who was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, has contributed for more than 20 years to the health and charity sectors focused on social justice and women’s empowerment.
Prior to taking the helm at the Child Cancer Foundation, she served as head of the Centre for Social Impact from 2018 to 2021, and was chief executive of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) Auckland from 2012 to 2018.
Child Cancer Foundation board chair Dennis Turton expressed the organisation’s delight.
“Monica’s strategic and empathetic leadership along with her courageous growth mindset has been significant in advancing Child Cancer Foundation’s ability to walk alongside and support Kiwi families impacted by childhood cancer,” he said. “She is wholeheartedly deserving of this prestigious honour.”
At the foundation, Monica has been advocating for, and supporting whānau advocating in favour of, retaining a unique Pharmac funding exception for paediatric cancer treatments. A current rule, which means that any medicine used to treat paediatric cancer is automatically funded without a Pharmac assessment, is under review, and the foundation is concerned that if changes are made, new medicines may not be funded.
During her tenure at the YWCA, Monica re-established a mentoring programme for young women from low-decile schools in Auckland to improve their confidence and provide guidance on education and careers.
In 2014, she led the establishment of New Zealand’s Equal Pay Awards, a campaign to discuss the issue of pay equity in the public domain. Monica also created brand ambassadors to encourage big companies to examine pay equity, leading to the creation of government gender pay gap reduction initiatives, Mind the Gap and Gender Tick.
She serves on the AUT Business School Industry Advisory Group and is a board member of the Grief Centre.
