Glenys Coughlan

Glenys accepted the Gillies McIndoe Foundation Trustee role not only because she would like to bring her years of business leadership and governance experience to the Foundation but because she knows first-hand the importance of hope in medical advances in dealing with terminal cancer.

Born in Dunedin, Glenys’s executive and governance career spans Auckland, Wellington and Central Otago. From early roles as Manager of Strategic Planning and then Manager of Government and Industry Affairs with Air New Zealand to Chief Executive of The New Zealand Tourism Industry Association, Managing Director of Acumen Republic, a PR, government relations marketing and events consultancy, she is also the former Chief Executive of Positively Wellington Venues.

Her Governance roles included nine years on the Board of Te Papa, and she has served as a director and Chair of Positively Wellington Tourism, Chair of Outward Bound, and a director of Sounds Air.

Diagnosed with grade IV glioblastoma early in 2019, Glenys Coughlan has her ‘head and heart’ in Gillies McIndoe Research Institute’s goal to innovate cancer treatment.

After her diagnosis friends were quick to point her in the direction of Gillies McIndoe and its founder Dr Swee Tan, and she believes that research into any treatment that could extend life and improve the quality of life is worth pursuing – especially a treatment approach that is readily accessible and affordable.  

Glenys hopes to bring her wealth of experience and her passion for ‘inventing the future’ to assist the Gillies McIndoe Foundation in attracting benefactors, donors and commercial partners to support its research efforts.

She holds an Executive MBA from the University of Auckland, an MA from the University of Hawaii, and a BA Hons First Class from the University of Otago. She is a member of Global Women New Zealand and, in 2019, received the Tourism Industry’s highest accolade - The Sir Jack Newman Outstanding Industry Leader Award for her contribution to Tourism.