Anne Tolley has served 34 years in politics, starting in 1986 as a local government councillor. She became a member of the National Government of New Zealand in 1999, and remained a Member of Parliament until her retirement in 2020. During her Parliamentary career, Anne held many Ministerships and was appointed Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in November 2017. She chaired a cross-party steering group to develop a parliamentary code of conduct, re-instigated and chaired the New Zealand chapter of the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians against Corruption (GOPAC). After she retired from Parliament, she was appointed to Chair the Commission that governed the Tauranga City Council from February 2021 to August 2024. She replaced the city's elected mayor and councillors following persistent governance failures. She is currently Chair of the Horizon Energy Group.

Anne was elected to the TINZ Board in November 2020. She believes that it is critically important that public and private activities are transparent and open to scrutiny, that Governments show leadership in Open Government practices, and that public and private entities develop systems to prevent widespread abuse of funding.