Early life and education
Career
From 1995 until 2000 Kiro was employed at Massey University as a senior lecturer in social policy.
Kiro was awarded her PhD in social policy from Massey University in 2001 for a thesis entitled Kimihia Hauora Māori = Māori Health Policy and Practice.[9] She went on to gain a Master of Business Administration (Executive) from the University of Auckland.
Kiro was appointed New Zealand's Children's Commissioner in 2003 and served in this role until 2008.
While in this role she established the Taskforce for Action on Family Violence that included many government department chief executives, and people from areas such as the police, Family Courts, and Māori and Pacific Island representatives.
The passing of the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 during her tenure attracted considerable public and media interest.
Kiro supported and advocated for the repeal of Section 59 of the Crimes Act, which provided a legal justification for using force against children.
Kiro returned to academia, working as an associate professor at Massey University and heading that institution's School of Public Health.
In 2013 Kiro took a position as head of Te Kura Māori at the School of Education at Victoria University of Wellington.
Kiro went on to serve as the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Māori) at the
University of Auckland.
In October 2020 it was announced that Kiro was to be appointed chief executive of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, commencing on 1 March 2021.
Governor-general
On 24 May 2021, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that Queen Elizabeth IIhad agreed to her recommendation to appoint Kiro as the next governor-general of New Zealand from 21 October 2021. The five-year term of the previous governor-general, Dame Patsy Reddy, ended on 28 September 2021.
Kiro is the first Māoriwoman to be appointed as governor-general.
Kiro was invested as a Dame Grand Cross of the New Zealand Order of Merit and Companion of the Queen's Service Order by Queen Elizabeth II during a private audience via video call on 19 October (18 October British time).[20] She was sworn in as governor-general by the chief justice, Helen Winkelmann, at Parliament on 21 October.[21] The ceremony was smaller than usual because of COVID-19 restrictions on the size of gatherings.
Honours and awards
Viceregal styles of
Dame Cindy Kiro
(2021–present)
Reference styleHer Excellency the Right HonourableSpoken styleYour ExcellencyFamily
Kiro was married to architect Chris Kuchel for 30 years, and had two sons with him.
Five years after separating, she met her current husband, GP Richard Davies, and is stepmother to his two sons.