BPW conference a success, award for hosts

SUCCESS FOR HOSTS: Tairawhiti hosted the Business and Professional Women NZ conference last month and the Gisborne club won the Anne Todd Issues award for its advocacy on immigration issues.Picture by Bobson Tsai

Tairawhiti hosted the 58th Business and Professional Women New Zealand conference last month, with a theme of Kotahitanga — working together, supporting each other.

Held from May 13-15 at Campion College, it included a formal dinner and awards ceremony at Bushmere Arms where the Gisborne club won the Anne Todd Issues award for its advocacy on immigration issues.

The award acknowledged the club's mahi lobbying government agencies on behalf of businesses in the region over their struggles in hiring and retaining skilled migrant workers.

BPW NZ president Christine Berridge said the pandemic impacts of 2020 had allowed people to stop, think and re-evaluate their lives to some extent.

“As members of BPW NZ, this conference provided a space for us to discuss local initiatives and to write resolutions for the future.”

BPW NZ treasurer and Gisborne member Catherine Chrisp said local club members worked tirelessly for a year to bring the conference together: “We made sure it happened and ran smoothly.”

The conference started with pre-workshops then the formal dinner, where Mayor Rehette Stoltz and East Coast MP Kiri Allan gave presentations.

Mayor Stoltz said it was lovely to be part of the national BPW conference dinner.

“I had the opportunity to showcase our beautiful place, and invite everyone to bring their friends and whanau here for a holiday.

“Our local branch were excellent hosts.

“We have an active, vibrant BPW local club — they punch well above their weight and them winning the Anne Todd Issues award is testament to that.”

Mrs Chrisp said the Gisborne club's hard work and advocacy not only earned them a prize, it also helped ensure immigration issues reached the national caucus.

“Our resolution regarding immigration issues we faced in the region was supported by all clubs and was put in the manual. Now, if the issue comes up within the Government or other agencies, we can lobby it on a national level.”

For the past couple of years, BPW Gisborne had been aware of immigration processing delays and how it impacted businesses trying to retain a skilled migrant workforce, Mrs Chrisp said.

“One of our members is the owner of Gisborne Hydraulics, Tasj Paulson — she had a hard time retaining three vital migrant staff.

“We advocated on this issue with all the agencies and were successful in getting a lot of government officials to hold a meeting here.

“A lot of other businesses joined in and Tasj was the driver of the hui. LeaderBrand also hosted a big public meeting.

“This was a success for us, and we are glad that the resolution is now in the manual for all BPW clubs to lobby.”

Mrs Chrisp said the quality of speakers at the panels during the conference was exceptional. They were from diverse backgrounds and all brought something useful to the caucus.

“We had a New Zealand Wine Growers panel on Saturday afternoon about what women in the wine industry have to do to reach their goals. On the following day we had the intergenerational panel — it was a diverse group of speakers, different ethnicities, backgrounds, age groups and accomplishments.

“We had great feedback. The conference was a success.”