Announcing the new CEO for EHF
The Hillary Institute and its daughter organisation, the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF), are pleased to announce that Rosalie Nelson has been appointed as their CEO.
Following the recent recruitment of Paul Atkins as Chair of the board, Rosalie joins to lead the Hillary Institute and EHF forwards into an exciting new phase, creating global impact from Aotearoa New Zealand.
Rosalie is a well respected champion of New Zealand’s innovation sector. She has held previous executive and senior leadership roles in NZ and internationally in the technology and innovation sectors. Her most recent roles were at Callaghan Innovation, New Zealand’s Innovation Agency, and Chorus NZ, a publicly listed fibre network provider.
"I am incredibly excited and humbled by this opportunity to support EHF and the Hillary Institute to create impact for New Zealand. The ambition to see Aotearoa impacting the world through innovation founded on trust, kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga is powerful: right now we have an opportunity to tangibly reimagine our future in ways that build social, environmental and financial capital. My commitment is to work collaboratively with Fellows to co-design and execute new ways of unlocking this potential for New Zealand.
The newly combined leadership teams of the Hillary Institute and EHF are excited to welcome Rosalie into the role.
“I am delighted that Rosalie will be our next CEO. She brings a wealth of skills and experience to the role, as well as an important international innovation perspective and very strong networks.” says Paul Atkins, Chair of the Hillary Institute and EHF.
“Rosalie joins our waka at a fascinating and challenging time - the Institute welcomes her breadth of experience and passion to lead our next chapter on this remarkable journey in Sir Ed’s name,” says Mark Prain, Founding Director of the Hillary Institute.
“I am thrilled to welcome Rosalie to the EHF family. Rosalie brings valuable experiences and perspectives that can unlock more of EHF’s potential for Aotearoa and the world. It’s an honour to pass the baton to Rosalie,” says Yoseph Ayele
Rosalie succeeds Yoseph Ayele, the co-founder and current CEO who steps back from his role as CEO after 7 years taking EHF from an idea to the completed pilot of the first Global Impact Visa.
“I want to pay tribute to the phenomenal work of the EHF team, creating and delivering a programme that has attracted over 500 world class entrepreneurs and investors to Aotearoa. EHF only exists because of the vision, commitment and hard, hard work of Yoseph, Brian and Matthew Monahan, Catlin Powers, the EHF team, board, INZ, Te Ātiawa Taranaki Whānui, and a supportive community over many years of effort. I feel incredibly privileged to now build on those foundations and activate impact,” says Rosalie Nelson.
The Fellowship now stands at 532 Fellows from 58 countries, including 118 New Zealand Fellows. Rosalie begins her role at CE on March 8th, and she will be welcomed with a formal pōwhiri ceremony led by Te Ātiawa.
For media or other inquiries, please contact media@ehf.org.