In this series, we get to know our co-operative leaders and hear them share their knowledge and insights on the co-operative model during informal conversations with CEO Saya Wahrlich.
nz.coop (https://nz.coop) | LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/cooperative-business-new-zealand)
Co-op Leader Conversation: Sara Johnson, CEO Independent Timber Merchants (ITM)
As ITM celebrates 35 years, CEO Sara Johnson explores how cooperation has helped independent timber merchants build national scale while retaining local ownership, and shares her perspectives on cooperative leadership, member governance, succession and the strength of the collective.
20 Aug 2026
Co-op Leader Conversation: The future of New Zealand's agricultural cooperatives - a follow up panel
What will determine whether today's agricultural cooperatives are still thriving twenty years from now?
This follow-up Primary Industries NZ Summit panel explored exactly that question.
Panelist Bruce Wills summed it up simply:
"The co-operatives still around in 20 years' time will be those that run a great business."
Anna Nelson added an equally important perspective:
"The strength of collectives becomes even more important when you're surrounded by volatility and complexity."
Good governance, strong commercial performance and long-term investment have always mattered. But as markets become more uncertain, climate pressures increase and farming continues to evolve, collective ownership may become even more valuable than it has been in the past.
That's one of the many topics explored in this follow-up Co-op Leader Conversations episode, where our panel answers audience questions that couldn't be covered during the live 2026 Primary Industries NZ Summit session.
Panelists: Bruce Wills, Chair Ravensdown; Anna Nelson; Chair Silver Fern Farms Co-operative and Simon Tucker, Group Director Global External Affairs, Fonterra.
22 Jul 2026
Co-op Leader Conversation: Mike O'Connor, Managing Director O'Connor Partners
Capital for a cooperative future
Explore the unique capital challenges facing cooperative businesses in this Co-op Leader Conversations episode with Mike O'Connor, Managing Director of O'Connor Partners (https://www.oconnorpartners.co.nz/).
Learn why cooperative capital is fundamentally different from investor-owned companies; what directors should consider for long-term success; the risks of adopting corporate approaches and how boards can protect member purpose while investing for the future.
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