Anthony de Rose

Anthony is currently the CEO of Skylight, an impact-focused organisation that works to improve children’s mental resilience and well-being and provides preventative and restorative programmes and services to help children, young people, and their families deal with trauma, loss, grief and difficult change. This role has allowed him to hone his understanding of how to lead a for-purpose organisation, which brings with it a different nuance from the commercial sector.

Anthony has experience in strategic leadership positions, with a career that spans corporations, crown entities, iwi organisations and for-purpose businesses. This has included accountability for a $140m+ budget as Operations Director for Wellington District Health Board. This role required complex stakeholder management, including stringent reporting requirements to a Minister, and being responsible for health programme delivery across a region serving a population of 500,000 with 1,300 staff. His work with iwi-led organisations (such as Ngāti Toa and their social housing programme) has enabled him also to build my cultural competency.

He grew up during the civil conflict in Sri Lanka and joined the national youth reconciliation and civic engagement movement and for the past 40 years has volunteered with YMCA and others working in slums and vulnerable communities where he directed resilience programmes and saw the positive impact of development aid.