Kristen Lunman is the co-founder and general manager of Hatch, a digital investment platform that gives New Zealanders access to the US share markets and allows them to invest in well-known brands such as Apple, Amazon or Netflix. Lunman has over a decade of experience in running product teams across North America and has played a pivotal role in the start-up ecosystem in New Zealand over the past five years. She was the innovation director at Kiwi Wealth, Hatch’s parent company, as well as programme director for the Kiwibank Fintech Accelerator. She also was the chief operating officer of Wipster, a video collaboration, publishing and analytics platform. An active mentor, Kristen is passionate about women in leadership, governance, and founder roles. Here, she shares five ways we can get more women into leadership roles.

The onus is on modern organisations to create better work environments for female leaders. I know far too many ambitious women who are disenfranchised.

• Start by creating purpose-led organisations – ambitious women are attracted to making a difference.
• Next, provide formal sponsorship programmes, so you can identify and train women into leadership roles.
• Diversity is critical, so support diversity training across the organisation at all levels so that everyone is supportive.
• Guarantee pay equity – for real. Women shouldn’t be getting paid less than their male counterparts in leadership roles.
• Lastly, invest in and offer flexible work environments. Women often have to juggle family commitments, so a flexible workplace is necessary for them to be able to do both well.

Off the back of thinking about women in leadership, several fabulous female-led kiwi businesses come to mind. My favourite five at the moment include:

• Springload, a digital design company founded by Bron Thomson.
• Chia Sisters, a nutritional and sustainable beverage company co-founded by Chloe and Florence Van Dyke.
• Ethique, a beauty brand that creates products that are 100 percent compostable, plastic free and cruelty free founded by Brianne West.
• Banqer, an online financial literacy platform co-founded by Kendall Flutey.
• Humankind, a human resource consulting company founded by Samantha Gadd.

These  kickass ladies each brought propositions to the market that solved problems for consumers and businesses in a new way. They are all brave disruptors of the status quo that I truly admire!