About

‘An exceptional legal professional with strong business acumen’, award-winning corporate counsel Vanessa Oakley played a central role in New Zealand’s largest demerger, between Chorus and Telecom NZ in 2011. Her effectiveness, both as a legal and regulatory head and as a leader has been widely recognised, both inside and outside the organisation. ‘She is an excellent lawyer and is well respected and valued by the Chorus business team’, opines one in-house source. ‘I thrive on breadth that involves challenging strategic change and stakeholder environments’, Oakley says. She established the approximately 25-strong function covering legal, compliance, corporate governance, risk and internal audit, regulation and policy. ‘The team was built on a resourcing philosophy of predominantly senior experts from a range of professional disciplines to meet functional needs’, Oakley explains. ‘Delivery is through a mix of internal and external resource to ensure flexibility and to foster diversity of thought’. A recognised industry expert with experience spanning the public and private sectors, Oakley has taken a central role in business and regulatory strategy in dynamically changing environments throughout her in-house career.