No Ceilings, Only Horizons

Breaking ceilings, building futures: Sheree’s path to global impact

Whaia te iti kahurangi, ki te tūohu koe, me he maunga teitei
Seek the treasure you value most dearly, if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain

Sheree Ryan’s journey from teenage mum to corporate CFO, tax strategist, board director, and Harvard scholar is nothing short of extraordinary. But if you ask her, she’ll tell you this: there’s no magic to it. Just hard work, courage, and an unshakable belief in building something better – for herself, for her whānau, and for the generations to come.

Raised in a whare where success was measured by how hard you worked and not necessarily the qualifications you earned, Sheree didn’t grow up with boardrooms, degrees, or titles in mind. Like many wāhine Māori of her generation, university wasn’t a conversation at the kitchen table. But there was one value that shaped everything: work ethic.

“I came from a whānau where as soon as you were old enough you finished school and got a job. That was success. Hard work, buy a home. Education? That was a luxury.”

By 19, Sheree was a mum. By 20, she was at a crossroads, and this was one that would redefine her entire life. “I remember looking at my daughter and thinking, I want more for you. And I realised to give her more, I had to become more”.

So, she did.

She went to university.

The accidental academic

Despite having had a somewhat rocky relationship with high school, Sheree discovered something unexpected at university: she enjoyed it.

“It rewarded me for thinking differently. My voice mattered. I had agency. It was a completely different world”.

Initially drawn to an HR major for its perceived role as ‘protector of the people’, Sheree quickly realised her calling was more technical, and more powerful. She double majored in management systems and commercial law, developing an early love for tax policy and corporate governance.

This calling became her career.

From intern to international expert

After completing her degree, Sheree and her whānau moved to London where she landed a coveted internship with British Telecom. It was her introduction to global systems, infrastructure, and the corporate world. What followed was a two-decade career in financial and systems leadership that saw Sheree rise through the ranks of major corporates – most notably Fonterra where she held senior roles in tax, systems, and strategy across New Zealand and Australia.

She would go on to lead high-stakes projects that shaped entire industries, from overseeing multinational tax strategy and compliance to digitising tax returns. But along the way she also encountered some of the less pleasant sides of the business world: underestimation, microaggression, and being the only woman – let alone the only Māori, in the room. She even once walked into a room ready to lead a presentation and was asked if she was there to take the coffee order.

But none of this deterred Sheree. She continued to move forward with a powerful presence that was underpinned by a firm knowing of who she is and her value, which often spoke more than words ever could.

Coming home to what matters

Despite her enormously successful career, which had taken her and her whānau to Australia, Sheree felt something was missing. After years of international travel and career progression, she started to feel the pull of home.

“My kids were becoming more Aussie than Kiwi. They didn’t know their marae, hadn’t met all their extended whānau, and hadn’t been growled by their aunties”, she laughs. “I realised they were becoming disconnected from who they are”.

So, she and her whānau returned to Aotearoa. To realign. She accepted a CFO role in a struggling company, rolled up her sleeves (returning to spreadsheets and being on the tools again), and turned it around – tripling its value and preparing it for acquisition.  After she left that role, she moved into a marae representative position working for post-settlement governance entity, Waikato Tainui. It was during this mahi that she started to reconnect with her Māoritanga.

“It was at Waikato Tainui that I fully grasped the impact of colonisation and land confiscation on my own whānau. I learned things about my tīpuna I’d never known. It was both painful and powerful”.

This awakening shifted her professional focus too, as she started to understand non-financial value.

“My corporate brain got warmed by heart. I started to understand that real wealth is measured not just in profit, but in people, place and purpose”.

Governance, Harvard, and lifting others

Today, Sheree sits on multiple boards and is a passionate advocate for financially sustainable Māori enterprise. She is also a mentor to many who are following in her footsteps. Indeed, one of her proudest achievements is seeing three wāhine Māori from her finance team go on to become CFOs themselves.

“When I started out, I didn’t know a single Māori chartered accountant. Now I know many, and I’m pulling them up with me.”

She’s also currently completing her executive pathway at Harvard Kennedy School where she’s exploring the intersection of social policy, taxation, and sustainability. Her goal is to help shape the frameworks that measure what really matters, and to ensure Māori voices help define what ‘good’ looks like in policy and governance.

“In Te Ao Māori we don’t have a word for sustainability, because it’s inherent. We understand the ebbs and flows of our natural environment because we understand that we are not the centre of the universe. And so, we try not to harm the natural environment because we belong to it, it doesn’t belong to us.”

Her studies at Harvard have also helped Sheree understand the profound importance that leadership and power is organically applied as it is in Te Ao Māori, not forced from the top down.

“In my marae, we all understand that if auntie at the back in the kitchen says ‘no, don’t bring those visitors in yet because we’re not ready’, then the front of house, who would be perceived as the people in charge, will do what they are told. These different exercises in power can be difficult to understand if you aren’t brought up in this way, but for us, it’s just how we are. This is what they were teaching at Harvard, and I thought to myself – ‘oh I know all about that!’.”

Finding belonging through AWDT

As Sheree’s governance journey deepened, she has sought opportunities to grow not just her technical knowledge, but her understanding of leadership as a wāhine Māori. That’s what led her to AWDT’s Wāhine o te Whenua programme, a space she describes as ‘transformational’.

“Wāhinetanga was the name we embraced for our cohort, and it truly was the pinnacle. It was the first time I’d been in a room full of wāhine Māori professionals like me, each of us bringing our own stories and strength. There was so much recognition, respect, and laughter. I felt seen”.

For Sheree, the AWDT experience helped solidify something she’d known instinctively all her life – that true leadership is underpinned by whakapapa, whanaungatanga, and āwhina.

“It brought everything together. My corporate experience, my governance pathway, my identity. It reminded me that I don’t have to leave any part of myself at the door to lead well. In fact, bringing my full self is the very thing that makes my leadership strong – authenticity”.

Sheree’s advice to wāhine

When asked what advice Sheree would give to wāhine who may look at her journey and wonder where to begin, she smiles and says: “Start where you are. Don’t wait to be ready because you’ll never feel ready. But you are capable, more than you know. Go after opportunities, and say yes, even if it scares you”.

She also credits having mentors who have supported and guided her along the way.

“I had people who saw something in me before I saw it in myself. But I also worked hard, and I made sure that when doors opened, I was ready to walk through them”.

And perhaps most importantly, she encourages young wāhine to own their space, without apology: “You don’t need to change who you are to succeed. Your difference is your gift. You belong at the table, and if the table doesn’t make room for you, you go and build your own”.

Leading with humility, work, and service

Whether she’s analysing legislation, mentoring future CFOs, or sharing kai with whānau, Sheree leads with the same values that shaped her early life: whakaiti, mahi, and āwhina – humility, work, and service.

A finance professional by trade, a māmā, mentor, and wāhine Māori, wearing all these hats has deepened Sheree’s desire to lift others as they rise. Because in the end, her story isn’t about climbing a ladder. It’s about breaking glass ceilings and building new platforms strong enough for the next generation to stand upon and grow from.