In search of our outstanding leaders
Hawke's Bay people are encouraged to nominate our most outstanding leaders for a life-changing accolade.
Every year the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award is given to six of New Zealand's most inspirational and influential people between the age of 25 and 40.
Previous winners include All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, filmmaker Roseanne Liang and Leader of the Christchurch Student Volunteer Army Sam Johnson.
Pakipaki woman Heather Skipworth, who founded IronMaori from Hawke's Bay in 2009, received the honour two years later. It was a turning point which confirmed a passion for helping others and pushed her to set bigger and better goals.
"Winning [the award] gave me an amazing sense of self-belief and even more drive to succeed personally and professionally.
"Being recognised alongside the other incredible leaders was hard to comprehend at the time but it has prompted me to set standards that I strive to work above everyday and never below," she said.
"The main difference it has had on my professional life is to keep leading. Although I find it hard to talk of myself as a leader, the award that I accepted, to me, meant I was accepting the challenge to carry on helping and encouraging people to strive for good health in all aspects of their lives."
Every year the nomination process turns up worthy recipients from throughout the country, who had shown determination and a will to succeed.
Previous winners also demonstrated the ability to build and lead outstanding teams, maintain integrity and who knew how to have fun.
"These are all the qualities that Kiwis admired in Sir Peter Blake and its just fantastic each year to be able to recognise New Zealand's emerging leaders who demonstrate these qualities too," Sir Peter Blake Trust CEO Shelley Campbell said.
