A word from our Chair – Chris
I have spent most of my life professional life in and around business and local government, more recently working on economic development activities in Wellington and Porirua. I am deeply committed to the health and wellbeing of the wider community, and how we might grow wealth and jobs for all of the people living in our region.
I was approached by a previous chair of the organisation who asked me to consider serving on Emerge’s Board of Trustees. I knew that Emerge was interested in expanding its contacts with employers and the business community in general, and I was attracted to Emerge on that level. I had been impressed by the incredibly important work that Emerge was doing in helping young people with experience of disability move from school into further education and work. I felt that I could put my extensive and broad base of business contacts to good use within the organisation.
Since becoming a board member and more recently Chair of Emerge I am more than ever convinced of the value that the people for whom the service was designed bring to organisations that choose to employ them. Their skills, their dedication, their loyalty and the inspirational way they surmount what we might perceive to be obstacles become real assets for their employers and colleagues. It is a privilege to be able to put together the pieces of the puzzle – to help support, inform, promote, accelerate and in all possible ways develop these relationships in a way that enriches all of us.
When I am not working, I can be found weeding my vegetable garden in Island Bay, dabbling in craft bookbinding and maintaining various online websites, including an online resource for bookbinders – see www. redeye.co.nz.
I also chair the Wellington Xiamen Association, which next year will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Wellington’s sister city relationship with the city of Xiamen in China.
