Christine Prince – instinct and impact
From international marketing roles to leading an emergency air rescue trust in New Zealand, Christine Prince has built a career defined by purpose. Now in the role of chief executive at Cancer Society Southern, she tells Metropol writer Hannah Noordanus about the experiences that have shaped her leadership and the sense of meaning that brings her to this moment.
Christine Prince does not describe her career as a straight line. Instead, it reads as a series of moves across countries, sectors and challenges, each one building on the last in ways that only become clear in hindsight.
She describes her new role in the not-for-profit sector as the latest in a life built on leaps of faith. The move into the Cancer Society Southern also carried personal weight. Christine lost her mother to leukaemia when she was 10 and later lost her father to cancer; both experiences that shaped her sense of purpose.
“It’s something that has always resonated with me,” she says. “Everybody knows someone affected by cancer. It’s part of so many people’s lives.”
Now leading Cancer Society Southern, she describes the organisation as both deeply grounded and increasingly ambitious. In her first month, she travelled across the region, meeting teams and seeing services firsthand.
What has stood out most is the culture. “I’ve been blown away by the absolute passion and dedication of the teams,” she says. “Everybody is pulling in the same direction. It creates a very special culture.”
That culture, she believes, comes from proximity to people and the reality of frontline care. Staff are working daily with those navigating diagnosis and treatment, which brings both emotional weight and clarity of purpose.
“There’s nothing linear about it,” she says. “All cancers are different. People’s reactions, their journeys, the way they deal with it. Everything is different.”
Long and winding road
Originally from the United Kingdom, Christine studied management sciences, a broad degree that combined maths, law and psychology. It laid the foundation for what would become a highly varied and international career, although at the time, she was more driven by curiosity than a clear plan.
Travel was one of the first things to shape her path. Through AIESEC, a global youth leadership organisation that facilitates international business internships and cultural exchange experiences, she completed internships in Turkey, Greece, Spain and Mexico, experiences that pushed her far beyond familiar surroundings and taught her how to adapt quickly in new cultures and environments.
“It taught me resilience early,” she says. “You learn how to communicate, how to connect with people and how to find your feet very quickly.”
She began her professional career with Unilever, entering what she describes as its “school of marketing”. “It was a real mix of everything,” she says. “A very strong grounding in how brands are built and how businesses think.”
From there, her career became increasingly global. She worked in Costa Rica and Argentina before moving to Australia, spending time in both Sydney and Darwin working with the Olympic Arts Festival, in the beer industry, retail and luxury goods. Around two decades ago, she made the move to New Zealand, bringing with her a career already defined by adaptability, reinvention and instinct.
By the time she arrived in Christchurch, Christine had spent years learning how to establish herself in unfamiliar environments. But it was the Christchurch earthquakes that marked a significant turning point in her career.
In the years that followed, she moved into the not-for-profit sector with Hato Hone St John, working on recovery and resilience projects focused on immediate response as well as what communities would need long term. From there, she stepped into emergency air rescue, becoming chief executive of the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust and Flying Doctors trusts, a role she held for 11 years.
When Cancer Society Southern came into view, she felt the pull. “I’ve done that often in life,” she says. “When the opportunity came up with the Cancer Society, it just felt right. That would be the next leap of faith.”
Looking and leaping
That idea of a leap of faith runs through her career. One of the earliest came when she left London for Costa Rica, entering a new country, a new language and an entirely unfamiliar life. “You do have to take those types of leaps in life.”
Alongside extending the reach of frontline support services, Christine is also focused on advocacy. Recently she joined representatives from across the Cancer Society federation in Wellington to present a manifesto to Parliament ahead of the next election, outlining priorities including prevention, screening and equitable access to treatment.
One issue Cancer Society Southern is particularly focused on is bowel cancer screening in regions such as South Canterbury, where rates remain high and early detection is critical. “Early detection is often the difference between life and death,” she says.
For Christine, the challenge ahead is about services and systems. She believes New Zealand must accelerate progress to match international standards in screening, treatment access and outcomes. “We need to be bold,” she says. “We need to take big steps forward.”
Her leadership style has evolved significantly over time. Early in her career, she worked in environments where work and life were kept firmly separate. That approach has shifted.
“It really has changed now,” she says. “Work is much more of a holistic environment. People bring their values with them.”
“It’s about getting everybody around the table, sharing views, having healthy debate, and then working together as a team,”
Learning from mistakes, taking on board feedback, some difficult, is also important.
Outside of work, she is intentional about balance, something she admits has not always come easily in senior leadership roles. Long hours were once normal, but she now understands the importance of taking a step back.
“It’s not sustainable working long hours all the time,” she says. “You don’t do your best work like that.” Her grounding comes from movement and connection, including reformer Pilates, walking outdoors, time at the gym and family life. Her mindset remains simple. “One day at a time,” she says. “Every day is a new day.”
For those aspiring to leadership, her advice is equally direct. “Never stop asking questions,” she says. “Build relationships, speak to people. That is often what leads to opportunities you
did not expect.”
As she settles into her role, Christine is focused on what lies ahead for Cancer Society Southern and the communities it serves. Advocacy, prevention and better outcomes remain central to that vision. “There is so much scope,” she says. “The more we can advocate and push things forward, the more difference we can make. We are here because of the community,” she says.
“Every fundraiser, every donation, every conversation helps us support people through some of the hardest moments in their lives. And if you are someone going through cancer, or supporting someone who is, you do not need to do it alone. We are here to walk alongside you.”
