Alumni profiles

Graduates of Victoria University are doing impressive things across the world. We caught up with four alumni who shared their advice, experience and memories

Lyn Provost CNZM

Former Controller and Auditor-General

BCA Well

Lyn Provost, Victoria Alumni
Lyn Provost, Former Controller and Auditor-General

What have you been doing since graduating?

I have worked for the Audit Office, Touche Ross in London, Pim Goldby in South Africa, the State Services Commission and Archives New Zealand. I have also been the Deputy Commissioner of Police and Controller and Auditor-General.

What are the highlights of your career so far?

The pinnacle of my career was serving as the Controller and Auditor-General. This role has an overview of the whole public sector and can make a real difference to public management. Some of the highlights for me were signing the audit opinions on the financial statements of the Government; being involved in the establishment of Auckland Council; seeing improvements in auditing in the Pacific; and publishing a series of reflection reports on the future of service delivery, governance and accountability. I believe the eight elements of good governance laid out in these reports are useful for all New Zealand enterprise. As the Controller and Auditor-General, I also enjoyed seeing people and organisations develop and grow stronger.

Describe your student experience at Victoria.

My student days were a game of two halves—the first half missing home and the second half enjoying the delights of Wellington and university life.

Have you kept any connections with Victoria?

Over the years I have given lectures and presentations, and attended seminars and functions. Currently, I am chair of the advisory board for the Brian Picot Chair in Ethical Leadership.

What sorts of opportunities did studying at Victoria open up for you?

A wonderful career, travel and good friends.

What was the most useful thing you learnt at Victoria?

The importance of lifelong relationships and principled thinking.

Grant Fletcher

Director, Strategy, at Inland Revenue

BA(Hons) MPM Well

Grant Fletcher, Victoria Alumni
Grant Fletcher, Director, Strategy at Inland Revenue

What have you been doing since graduating?

I’ve been in the public service most of my professional career, more recently in senior roles. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a number of years overseas experiencing different cultures and approaches, which I think have given me very different perspectives to bring to study and work. For example, I was in the United States when I carried out a comparative study of American and New Zealand transport systems as part of my Master’s. Living in Washington, DC, and experiencing its public transport system really brought the study to life.

What are the highlights of your career so far?

People. I’ve had a succession of leadership roles that have taught me the value of teamwork. Giving people the opportunity to grow and succeed in so many different settings has to be a highlight.

Have you kept any connections with Victoria?

In my current role, I have regular contact with the School of Government and Victoria Business School and have been able to take on summer interns to work at Inland Revenue.

How important do you see Victoria’s role as a capital city university in terms of engaging with government and the public sector?

In my view, New Zealand does best when it adapts ideas to its unique environment, grows them and exports them to the world. Victoria has a key role in engaging with the public sector to help understand what works best, and then growing that in partnership across the rest of New Zealand.

What was the most useful thing you learnt at Victoria?

How to be curious. Victoria gave me a thirst for knowledge about the world around me. It’s taught me to ask questions and imagine different outcomes that continue to help me in my career.

Renee Graham

Chief Executive, Ministry for Women

BCA, MPP Well

Renee Graham, Victoria Alumni
Renee Graham, Chief Executive, Ministry for Women

What have you been doing since graduating?

I graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration in 1993. I had worked at the Ministry for Social Development during the vacation period processing student applications and when I finished they offered me a job there. I said I would stay for three months until I got a ‘real job’. It was a real job, and I stayed for 20 years! In 2017, I was appointed chief executive of the Ministry for Women.

What are the highlights of your career so far?

I have enjoyed all of my roles and I have been really fortunate to work on policies that make a difference to New Zealanders. I am excited now about the new challenges in being a chief executive and leading advice on improving lives for New Zealand women and girls.

Describe your student experience at Victoria.

I really enjoyed my student years at Victoria. I was the first in my family to attend university and, in a way, I had a lot of expectations placed on me but I relished learning as an adult and having control over my subjects and my learning. Studying for my Master of Public Policy as a ‘mature’ student was a completely different experience. I was juggling a full-time job and raising a family but I was also smarter and more confident. I had work experience behind me and I could easily see the connections between what I was studying and its applicability to my work. More importantly, I had an opinion and the confidence to share it.

What was the most useful thing you learnt at Victoria?

Victoria gave me the confidence to participate in life and raised my expectations of what I could achieve. I made some lifelong friends and gained the skills and the discipline that has underpinned my career to date.

David Woodnorth

Director, ComplyWith

LLM Well

David Woodnorth, Victoria Alumni
David Woodnorth, Director, ComplyWith

What have you been doing since graduating?

After finishing my Master of Laws (LLM), I spent four years heading up legal teams in public sector organisations and then returned to the private sector to practise law as a barrister specialising in public law and employment litigation. During that time, I started ComplyWith as a project for a bunch of Crown organisations and, after a few years of that, gave up being a barrister altogether to focus on growing ComplyWith, which is now New Zealand’s leading cloud-based legal compliance business.

What are the highlights of your career so far?

The biggest highlight has been starting a new business, and growing it into something that is now starting to explore international opportunities—all built around a mission to humanise the law for people in business. I’d always struggled with the elitism and expense of access to the law, and the way this is perpetuated by its institutionalised complexity. The law is one of the last areas of business to be disrupted by innovation and technology and it is well overdue.

Describe your student experience at Victoria.

I enjoyed the constant stream of interesting guests attending the LLM classes—most with some kind of government connection. Probably the highlight was when we had Lord Cooke of Thorndon, unquestionably New Zealand’s greatest-ever jurist, join us for a class. There we were, only about 12 of us in the group, having an intense but convivial two-way discussion about public law issues of the day with this absolute legend of the law—where else could you do that? That night, it felt like we were at the centre of the law-school universe!

What was the most useful thing you learnt at Victoria?

Keep curious, keep learning—and that the effort to read a good paper or book on a topic can reward you many times over.