Barry Koolen, EMEA CEO for Crown Worldwide Group has been appointed as a member of Kea’s World Class New Zealand Network (WCNZN), a community of world class Kiwi leaders.
Kea is a vibrant and diverse community that shares a strong passion for New Zealand and the success of its people and businesses.
On its website, Kea describes its WCNZN as a network of individuals who “lead and shape industries around the globe, helping build New Zealand’s reputation on the world stage.”
It adds: “They are passionate advocates for Aotearoa and regularly give back to their communities. Through their actions, our World Class New Zealanders light the way for more exploring Kiwi and a globally connected Aotearoa.”
Barry joins a cohort of just a few hundred Kiwis who use their expertise and knowledge to support New Zealand businesses, mentor up-and-coming New Zealanders and provide thought-leadership to the wider Kea community.
Originally from Waikato in New Zealand, a district in the north of the island near Auckland, Barry relocated to the UK with Crown in 1996 – where he has remained a passionate advocate for New Zealand from his adopted Northern Hemisphere home.
To be nominated to join Kea’s WCNZN, an individual must fulfil three criteria, which includes leading and shaping an industry, that their māhi (or occupation and hard work to get something done) should actively lift New Zealand’s reputation on the world stage and they must be giving back to the communities they live and work in.
Barry ticks all of those boxes. His long career in logistics, relocations and as a strategic business leader has seen him become a beacon within the industries that Crown operates in.
He is a member of the Te Papa foundation in UK, and most recently he helped the foundation raise money for a book on the Maori land wars, which was distributed free of charge to every New Zealand school.
He is an active part of the New Zealand community in London, largely through his participation in the KEA and NZ Society of London events, and has supported many Kiwi individuals and businesses when they have arrived in the UK.
“I’m very proud to be joining the World Class New Zealand Network,” Barry said. “It has been a privilege to be able to give back to my homeland through mentoring, supporting expat New Zealanders and through my work with the Te Papa foundation.
“I’m now really looking forward to being able to further blend my professional experience with my passion for New Zealand, its businesses, its people and its culture by lending some of the expertise I’ve gained – much of it through my time at Crown – to do even more for Kea’s community and New Zealand as a whole.
“A more globalized world enables us to live anywhere and to embrace new cultures – something that we have facilitated for millions of families at Crown – but that doesn’t mean you can’t retain your native identity and give back to that community, all while benefiting your new community. I am so pleased to have been able to do that – and to now be empowered to do even more of it.”