Professor Lester Levy, CNZM, MBBCh, MBA, FRACMA, FNZIM

Business Leader, medical doctor, entrepreneur, author and inspirational, entertaining and provocative speaker.

Lester is the recently appointed Commissioner of Health New Zealand, Professor of Digital Health Leadership at the Auckland University of Technology, Chair of the New Zealand Health Research Council and an independent advisor on leadership and leadership development. He is a medical doctor and MBA with a postgraduate professional qualification in medical leadership and is registered as a medical specialist with the Medical Council of New Zealand.

Lester has served on 31 Boards of Directors, 17 as Chair and three as deputy-Chair. Three quarters of these boards are in public and private healthcare with the remainder in transport, engineering, shared services, biotechnology, film and television production, software development, research, logistics and supply chain. Over the past sixteen years he has held eight Ministerial appointments and has previously been a seconded advisor to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Health; a lead reviewer for the State Services Commission’s Performance Improvement Framework and an independent expert advisor to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise. Lester has also been a healthcare chief executive three times, twice in the public sector and once in the private sector

Lester’s research has been published in a range of international peer reviewed academic journals and book chapters and he is the author of the book Leadership and the Whirlpool Effect (Penguin).

In the 2013 New Zealand New Year's Honours Lester was appointed by the Queen as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to health and education.

Presentations:

•  Management
•  Leadership
•  Strategic Planning
•  Marketing
•  Organisational Restructuring