Looking ahead at ACE New Zealand

Over the past three years ACE New Zealand has been going through a transformation journey to become a modern, relevant and recognised organisation with a strong voice for the sector. We now represent more than 230 professional services firms across Aotearoa, ranging from large global firms to employee-owned SMEs. We’re regularly invited to the decision-making table and we’re visible to our stakeholders more than ever before.

To ensure we’re leveraging this success and our mahi remains truly relevant, we’ve recently worked with insights agency TRA to gain a clear understanding of where our members see we can best concentrate our resources over the coming years for the greatest and most relevant impact.

Through this project, members told us they need ACE New Zealand to provide a system-level perspective to their unique challenges. They want us to be the collective voice and leader on tangible issues like the skills shortage and risk and liability, as well as the more intangible ones like diversity and inclusion, sustainability and cultural competency. They told us our specific focus on professional service consultancies sets us apart from other organisations and is where we can provide the best value. They want ACE New Zealand to elevate the voices, preparedness and professionalism of consultancy organisations to underpin the strength of the sector. They want us to focus on initiatives that sit at a macro-level within the sector and benefit firms of all sizes.

Chief Executive Helen Davidson says: “You can expect to see those views reflected in our work as we continue delivering what you know and love, and we leverage opportunities to deliver a step-change in other areas.

“Initiatives you can expect to see over the next 18 months include preparing a competency framework that sets a clear standard for consultancy businesses on what great looks like, today and into the future, that we can use to inform our advocacy, guidance documents and events and training. We will also focus on supporting you with your mental health kaupapa, empowering your sustainability journey, raising awareness of emerging technologies, and helping you to build Te Ao Māori into your DNA.

“And we’ll be loudly sharing all the amazing work you do as professional services consultancies to deliver remarkable outcomes for Aotearoa.”

Read more about ACE New Zealand’s vision, objectives and priorities