NCWNZ made a strong showing at this year’s Women in Governance Awards, run by Women on Boards NZ, a division of the Chartered Governance Institute. These awards are set up to recognise diverse women on boards throughout Aotearoa and have been growing in strength every year. The emphasis is on championing gender diversity and/or gender equity in a variety of different sectors. I was delighted to be nominated by the NCWNZ Board and head office team for the Not-for-profit category, and even more so to be selected as a finalist – and therefore attend the flash awards dinner at the Auckland Hilton Hotel.

Hansa Naran and Pushpa Wood at Women in Governance Awards 2024

I certainly was in good company, with NCWNZ’s Hansa Naran (Manukau), a finalist in the Ethnic Communities category, along with Pushpa Wood. We all got to wear a white camellia wrist corsage, as you can see in the photos taken by Norrie Montgomery on the night.

There were exceptional women in the room that night, which would have made it very hard for the judges. Congratulations to all the winners, including Maia Faulkner of GirlGuiding NZ, winner of the Not-for-profit award, and Claire Williamson of Rural Women NZ, winner of the Rising Governance Star award. NCWNZ is proud to have both of those organisations as members!

Suzanne Manning and Maia Faulkner with her friends (Maia with red flowers)

It was also wonderful to see Traci Houpapa recognised with a lifetime achievement award. Traci has been a strong voice for women, and for wāhine Māori, in a multitude of public sector boards – often as chair. She has made a significant impact on policy and its implementation that benefits women, and thoroughly deserves to be recognised for this mahi.

Suzanne Manning, Proud President 😊

To read more articles from The Circular (September-October 2024) issue 649, click on the tag below.