About Mary Los'e
Introduction
Mary Los'e is an executive leader and governance professional whose career spans media, communications, housing, banking, health systems and Māori and Pacific economic development in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Over more than two decades, she has moved through senior roles across the public, commercial and community sectors, building a cross-sector record that few New Zealand leaders share. As a Pacific-sector executive, she has combined operational leadership inside major institutions with governance participation and public engagement.
Leadership Overview
Mary Los'e's current professional focus sits at the intersection of governance, leadership and Māori and Pacific economic development. She is currently engaged in governance, leadership, and public-sector conversations across Aotearoa New Zealand, contributing to boards, director networks and leadership forums.
Her work today draws directly on the breadth of her earlier career. Having led within large public-sector and community-facing organisations, she brings a systems-level understanding to governance and a practical grasp of how leadership decisions affect communities.
Career & Leadership Journey
Mary Los'e's career reflects a deliberate progression through several of the sectors that shape New Zealand's economic and social life.
1. Media & Communications
Mary's professional roots are in media and communications, beginning in journalism. Her early work connected her to New Zealand's media landscape, including Pacific media through NiuFM, the national Pacific radio network, and to Shortland Street. This grounding in communications and public engagement shaped a career-long ability to translate complex issues for broad audiences.
2. Housing & Public Sector Leadership
Mary moved into housing and public-sector leadership through roles associated with Housing New Zealand and its successor organisation, Kāinga Ora. This period placed her within the national effort to transform housing provision, working on the systems and services that connect government delivery to the communities that rely on it.
3. Banking & Innovation
Mary's career also extends into banking and innovation through her association with BNZ. This experience broadened her exposure to the commercial sector and to the role business can play in community innovation and engagement, complementing her public-sector work with a commercial perspective.
4. Health Systems Leadership
In the health sector, Mary's experience connects to Whakarongorau Aotearoa, the national telehealth service. Telehealth services can help close gaps in reach for communities that have historically faced barriers to care, including Māori and Pacific populations. Mary's involvement in health systems reflects a focus on the infrastructure and services that make care more accessible.
5. Economic Development Leadership
Mary served as Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Business Trust, an executive role at the centre of Pacific economic development in New Zealand. In this position she led work focused on supporting Māori and Pacific entrepreneurs and businesses, and on building the ecosystem that enables Māori and Pacific economic participation.
6. Governance & Public Leadership
From these executive roles, Mary's focus has increasingly moved toward governance and public leadership. She now contributes to boards, governance networks and leadership conversations, applying the cross-sector experience built across media, housing, banking, health and economic development.
Governance & Professional Memberships
Mary Los'e's governance standing is reflected in her current and former roles across professional and director bodies.
- Rōpū Lead - Pasifika, Global Women NZ
- Institute of Directors NZ
- Australian Institute of Company Directors
- Global Women Member
- Tāmaki Makaurau Business Network Governance Group
- Former Board Member, Breast Cancer Foundation NZ
- Former Trustee, Te Manawanui Housing Trust
Pacific Heritage & Community Connection
Mary Los'e is of Tongan heritage, with family ties to the village of Utulau in Tonga. She is also of Māori and Pākehā heritage, reflecting the layered identity common to many New Zealanders of Pacific descent.
She was raised in West Auckland, a part of Aotearoa New Zealand with deep and longstanding Pacific and Māori communities.
Public Leadership & Speaking
Mary Los'e contributes to public leadership through speaking engagements and participation in leadership conversations. Selected engagements include:
- Women in Leadership Summit 2026
- Women Leading Business Lunch 2025
- Auckland Pacific Economic Insights
- Front Page Podcast
Current Focus
Mary continues to contribute to leadership, governance, Māori and Pacific economic development, and public-sector conversations across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Contact
Mary Los'e welcomes professional, speaking and media enquiries. This includes professional enquiries relating to governance and leadership, speaking enquiries for events, summits and panels, and media enquiries from journalists and producers. Please use the enquiry form to get in touch.
Get in touchFrequently Asked Questions
Mary Los'e is an executive leader, governance professional and Pacific-sector leader based in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Mary has held executive roles across several sectors, including as CEO of the Pacific Business Trust.
Current memberships include Rōpū Lead - Pasifika with Global Women NZ, Institute of Directors NZ, Australian Institute of Company Directors, and Global Women.
Pacific economic development, health systems, housing transformation, media and communications, banking, and governance.
Her cross-sector executive leadership and contribution to Pacific economic development and governance in Aotearoa New Zealand.