Former NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern unveils surprising career move

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has recently made a big announcement regarding her next career move, sending ripples of excitement among her supporters.

On Thursday, January 19, Ardern made the shock announcement that she would be resigning from her position as New Zealand’s Prime Minister claiming that she “no longer” had “that bit extra in the tank to do the job justice”.

Her final day in the position was on Tuesday, February 7.

However, Ardern has now revealed she will be swapping the halls of Parliament for the halls of Harvard, announcing that she is “incredibly humbled” to be joining the prestigious institution as “2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and as a Hauser Leader in the Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership.”

“A quick update! When I did my final interviews before leaving Parliament, I said that alongside working as a special envoy to the Christchurch Call, and joining the Earthshot board, I would also be doing some speaking, teaching, and learning. Here’s a little more detail on that,” she wrote.

“Harvard have been a really important partner in the Christchurch Call work, and my semester there later this year will also be an opportunity to take up the first tech governance leadership fellowship at the Berkman Klien Center. Not only will this be a chance to work collaboratively with the center’s research community, but also work on the challenges around the growth of generative AI tools.

“I’ll also be sharing my experiences through speaking both here and abroad, while also taking time over the next year to learn too.

“While I’ll be gone for a semester (helpfully the one that falls during the NZ general election!) I’ll be coming back at the end of the fellowships. After all, New Zealand is home!”

 

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Ardern’s new career move was swiftly met with celebratory reactions by many.

“You are pure inspiration to millions of women,” one person wrote.

“Congratulations! You gonna still making a huge difference in this chaotic world.”

“Way to go Jacinda. We were lucky to have you as Prime Minister and the world will benefit from this next step,” commented another.

“So incredibly humble. can’t wait for this new journey for you, and so many more great things. will forever look up to you as a great leader and an incredible woman. all the best.”

“Congratulations, hope you enjoy the experience.”

Ardern originally joined the Labour Party at the age of 17 after graduating from the University of Waikato in 2001, where she worked as a researcher in the office of Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Ardern was first elected as an MP in the 2008 general election, when Labour lost power after nine years. She was later elected to represent the Mount Albert electorate in a by-election on February 25, 2017.

Ardern was unanimously elected as deputy leader of the Labour Party on March 1 2017, following the resignation of Annette King. A mere five months later, Labour’s leader Andrew Little resigned after a low opinion polling for the party, with Ardern elected unopposed as leader in his place

Labour saw a considerable rise in popularity after Ardern became leader, she led her party to gain 14 seats at the 2017 general election on September 23, winning 46 seats to the National Party’s 56.