Jennifer Ward-Lealand, President of Equity New Zealand, has been elected to the top ranks of the Fédération Internationale des Acteurs (FIA) at the organisation’s World Congress in Birmingham.
Ward-Lealand joins five other vice-presidents from Canada, Sweden, Uruguay, the UK and France, alongside FIA President Gabrielle Carteris (USA). Together they lead the global federation, which represents 87 performers’ unions worldwide.
President of Equity New Zealand since 2007, Ward-Lealand has long been a respected voice within the international performers’ movement. Since attending her first FIA meeting in 2008, she has contributed extensively to the Gender Equality and Sexual Harassment Working Group, helping develop the FIA Guide to Intimacy Professionals. She has served on the FIA Executive since 2021.
“It’s a great honour to serve as one of the Vice-Presidents of FIA and to help lead this collective effort to improve working conditions for performers,” Ward-Lealand said. “Ours is a truly global industry, and performers everywhere face many of the same challenges. The solidarity among FIA members — and our ongoing exchange of best practice and expertise — remains one of the federation’s greatest strengths.”
A member of Equity since 1983, Ward-Lealand’s career spans more than 40 years across theatre, film, television, musical theatre and radio as an actor, director and teacher. She is also an accredited intimacy coordinator for stage and screen.
Beyond her union work, she was a founding board member of Watershed Theatre, co-founded The Actors’ Program, and serves as Patron of Q Theatre, Howick Little Theatre and Theatre New Zealand. She also sits on the Actors Benevolent Fund board and is a commissioner for Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori – The Māori Language Commission.
Ward-Lealand’s extensive contributions have been widely recognised: she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in 2007 and a Companion (CNZM) in 2019, named SPADA Industry Champion in 2018, and honoured as Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year in 2020.
