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First Future Director selected for the State sector
The Minister for Women Louise Upston has
today welcomed the selection of the first Future Directors
participant since the expansion to the state sector. Ruth
Smithers will join the WorkSafe New Zealand board early in
the New Year, following the expansion of the Future
Directors programme to include state sector boards and
committees in June this year. “The Future Directors
programme identifies talented people for governance roles
and provides them with opportunities to observe and
participate in board discussions for a period of 12
months,” Ms Upston says. “The programme is about
diversity in all its forms including gender, age, ethnicity,
experience, and regional perspective. The experience helps
aspiring leaders to gain governance skills, as well as the
boards themselves benefitting from fresh perspectives and
greater diversity of thought. “This will lead to better
decision making and performance on boards, and by investing
in our future leaders we will develop a more diverse and
inclusive pipeline of high-calibre candidates across the
public and private sectors,” Ms Upston says. Ms Upston
acknowledged the WorkSafe board for their commitment to
increasing the diversity of the pipeline of directors, and
anticipates this to be the first of many more placements to
come in the future.
“Women are under-represented in
leadership and governance roles. It’s therefore great to
see this investment in an aspiring women leader. “The
state sector is already leading the way with female board
member representation at 43 percent of members – the
highest level ever - and I encourage other state sector
boards to follow the lead of Worksafe and help to develop
the next generation of directors by participating in this
excellent programme,” Ms Upston says. Ruth is from New
Plymouth where she works for Tui Ora Ltd., which provides a
wide range of health and social services in the Taranaki
region. The appointment was made following a rigorous
recruitment and selection process, similar to any board
appointment. Further information on the Future Directors
programme can be found at women.govt.nz.
Hon
Louise
Upston
Minister for
Women
1 December 2016
First Future Director selected for the State
sector
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