Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year: Nominations and applications open for 2025

2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year Katrina Roberts (centre) with Farm Source group director Anne Douglas and Fonterra director John Nicholls. Photo / Dairy Women's Network

Nominations and applications are open for the 2025 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award.

The award celebrates outstanding women who have made significant contributions to the dairy sector, showcasing their passion, drive, innovation and leadership.

Dairy Women’s Network encourages people to nominate leaders “who go beyond the farm gate” in 2025, the 14th year for the award.

The organisation said the award was for women who supported the wider dairy sector and its people, were committed to giving back to their communities, and had a vision to add value to the future of dairy through their leadership aspirations.

This year’s recipient Katrina Roberts demonstrated her passion and commitment to the sector through her role.

“As a dairy vet, I believe that we are an integral part of the farm team and the strong relationships with our clients contribute to the success on-farm,” she said.

“What drives me is helping my farmers and my community — giving my time and serving others.”

Dairy Women’s Network Trustee and lead judge Jenna Smith said a Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year winner demonstrated diverse leadership talents.

“She will embody the skillset needed for the current and future state of dairying in Aotearoa — a blend of community engagement, environmental stewardship, professional expertise, and commercial insight.

“This woman will know how to influence change and have the courage to steer down the challenges and opportunities our sector presents.”

Dairy Women’s Network said previous finalists said that going through the award process and being named as a finalist was a humbling experience and an honour that could have a lifelong impact and validate their work within the sector.

The 2025 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year will receive a scholarship to the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, including programme fee, travel and accommodation, mentoring and access to Dairy Women’s Network and Fonterra platforms to share their research.

The recipient will also join previous Fonterra Dairy Women of the Year, including Barbara Kuriger (2012), Justine Kidd (2013), Charmaine O’Shea (2014), Katie Milne (2015), Rebecca Keoghan (2016), Jessie Chan (2017), Loshni Manikam (2018), Trish Rankin (2019), Ash-Leigh Campbell (2020), Belinda Price (2021), Donna Cram (2023), and Katrina Roberts (2024).

Applications and nominations close on February 28, 2025.

Find out more and apply or nominate here.