New Horizons For Women Trust (Inc.)
2001 Community Trust of the Year
Women Public Servants To Benefit From $12,000 Study Award
26 April 2002

Applications for a $12,000 study award are now being sought from women public servants. The award, known as the Ria McBride Public Service Management Award, is sponsored by the State Services Commission and administered by the New Horizons for Women Trust. This is the third year the award has been offered.

In calling for applications, State Services Commissioner Michael Wintringham today said the award was designed to help Public Service women advance to higher levels of management.

"The Award complements the Commission's initiatives on senior leadership and management development. These initiatives are designed to improve the quality and diversity of New Zealand's future Public Service leaders," said Mr Wintringham.

Last year's winner, Deidre Butler of the Ministry of Health, will leave next month for England, where she will attend Oxford University's Strategic Leadership Programme. The 2000 winner, Sharon Nelson-Kelly from Child Youth and Family, used her award to study for a Graduate Certificate in Management at the Mount Eliza Business School in Melbourne.

Mr Wintringham says it is fitting the award commemorates the life and work of Ria McBride, a long-term public servant and campaigner for women's rights, who died in January 1999.

"Miss McBride had a remarkable Public Service career. She began her career as a typist in the 1930s but was forced to end her university studies when dwindling family funds were dedicated to her brother's education. She later returned to university and graduated after part-time study. She became the first woman to be appointed Chief Clerk of the Public Service Commission (which preceded the State Services Commission)."

This year's Ria McBride Public Service Management Award winner will receive her award on 30 September at a ceremony in Government House, Wellington. The New Horizons for Women Trust, under whose auspices the public service award is given, is a charitable trust that gives several second-chance education awards annually, along with awards for research on women's issues.

Applications for the Public Service award close on 31 July 2002. Details are available from the State Services Commission's website www.ssc.govt.nz or from human resource contacts in core Public Service agencies. Information on this award, or the other awards offered by the New Horizons for Women Trust, can also be obtained from the Trust at www.Rorohiko.net.nz/Horizons or at P O Box 12 498, Wellington.

ENDS

© Scoop Media