Wendy McGuinness is the founder and chief executive of the McGuinness Institute. Originally from the King Country, Wendy went on to study at Manukau Technical Institute (gaining an NZCC), University of Auckland (BCom), University of Otago (MBA), Massey University (completing a range of environmental papers) and Harvard (completing the Executive Programme on Driving Corporate Performance). In 2009 she received a fellowship from the NZICA, becoming a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) for outstanding contribution to the accountancy profession and service to the community. Specialising in risk management, she prepared the 1988 report Implementation of Accrual Accounting for Government Departments for the New Zealand Treasury.