By Chamber CEO, Don Good
Members,
Senga Allen retires today after serving her 10 years as a Director of the Waikato Chamber and it is a tribute to her leadership and guidance that the Waikato Chamber is in such good financial health and its mana is growing.
In 2015 the Board did a Skills matrix exercise and recognised its governance deficiencies. Certainly, there was a lack of women on the board, and we lacked expertise in Human Resources, Tourism and Innovation.
Reaching out to Senga to add some HR horsepower to your Board was a no brainer.
She was asked along with Kiri Goulter ex Tourism Waikato and Rachel Adams then at SODA to be co-opted onto the Board to encourage greater diversity. With Tracey Clarke, then at PwC, already on the board, this lifted the gender balance and diversity of thought to four of nine.
Her huge influence can be seen in financial result but equally in the quality of the individuals we have been able to attract to the Chamber team and that has directly led to the turnaround in the Chamber over the past 9 years.
Her adage was “get the best people on the bus” and she made sure we did.
Her quiet but firm Chairpersonship over the past 4 years has led to stability and a growing prosperity in your chamber.
She leaves the Chamber in excellent financial health, a growing membership and some exciting times ahead.
What a hell of a legacy.
Thank you Senga!
