Double award for public management

Waitakere City Council’s Director of Corporate and Civic Services Ross McLeod has been awarded a double honour by Wellington’s Victoria University.

In Wellington this week Mr McLeod received the Prime Minister’s Prize for Public Management and the Holmes Prize for the best piece of research in public policy.

For three and a half years Mr McLeod studied extramurally with Victoria University, completing his Masters of Public Management. As part of the programme he undertook a major research project focussed on the Strategic Leadership in public organisations and the impact of the political context of public organisations.

The Prime Minister’s Prize is annually awarded for the best all round academic performance in the Masters of Public Management programme. The Holmes Prize, created by Emeritus Professor Sir Frank and Lady Holmes, is awarded to the best piece of research work by students undertaking either the Masters of Public Management or the Masters of Public Policy, or other programmes in Victoria’s School of Government.

Mr McLeod pays special tribute to Waitakere’s Chief Executive Harry O’Rourke for this supportive attitude towards his employees.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do the study while working fulltime with the support of Harry and the organisation. His approach to staff development is very supportive, and I think people repay that with commitment to Harry and the City”, he says.

“Waitakere is an exciting place to work and live. There are a lot of major projects starting to come on now. The West is no longer just a series of dormitory suburbs anymore; there’s exciting social and economic progress happening - Unitec, the Town Centres, new Libraries, the Film Industry, the Trust’s Stadium and hopefully Whenuapai airport – there’s a real vibrancy and hum happening here that people can be proud of. I’m certainly proud to be part of the team that is helping to support this progress.”

Mr McLeod, who has already attained a degree in Political Science, has worked at Waitakere City Council for 12 years.

In his role, he is responsible for a number of key areas including libraries, information management, emergency management, legal services, human resources and Maori issues.

He is married with a young family and lives in Henderson.

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