Justine Gilliland
Justine is the Chief Executive of Venture Taranaki, and a Director of Manaaki Whenua/Landcare Research, AGMARDT, and Economic Development NZ.
Prior to joining Venture Taranaki, Justine was the Deputy Director-General Sector Partnerships and Programmes at the Ministry for Primary Industries, where she led investment programmes, Māori partnerships, regional development, and the establishment of Te Uru Rākau and the 1 billion trees programme.
Justine has held numerous other public sector leadership roles across strategy, communications, policy, operations, and innovation investment functions and ran the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the building failures in the Canterbury earthquakes. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, a member of Global Women, and has been admitted as barrister and solicitor of the High Court.
Justine grew up in Taranaki, attending Sacred Heart Girls’ College before completing arts and law degrees in Otago. She relocated back to Taranaki in 2018.