News
DWN Board announces changes to their Board of Trustees
The Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) is making changes to the Board this month (June 2023) as Karen Forlong steps away, and Jess Moore joins as a new trustee.
Trish Rankin, DWN Board Chair, says “We’ve been lucky to have Karen on our Board for so long. Karen has true pink blood having proudly been a member of DWN for many years in different roles. I want to acknowledge and thank her for her amazing commitment, her time and everything she’s done for DWN and our sector”.
Karen has been part of DWN since 2002 as a member based in Rotorua and joined the Board in June 2016. She was heavily involved in the DWN Conference committees in 2005 and 2012, before becoming the Conference Chair in 2014. In March 2014 Karen joined the Head office team as North Island Convenor Co-ordinator and supported 18 volunteer Regional Leaders to deliver events to members. In 2019, Karen became the DWN’s Trust Board Chair and later Chair support.
Karen has been part of the pilot DWN Business Group in Rotorua which has now grown to expand across NZ.
Karen reflects that DWN is more than just an organisation, it’s her tribe. “It’s been such a privilege to participate and work in DWN and then to support the governance. I’m proud of how we navigated COVID-19 and the changes we made to support our Volunteer Regional Leaders and stay real and relevant to our membership”, she says.
Karen adds that one of the things she’s most proud of in her time as Chair is being the driving force behind the Associate Trustee opportunity and bringing it to life in partnership with AgMardt.
“Seeing Jess take the reins and watching how brilliant she is in her uptake of the opportunity, is living proof of how powerful the initiative is”, Karen says.
The Board welcomed and inducted Jess Moore at the 22 June Board meeting “As Karen steps away to make room for Jess, we continue to grow and empower our next generation of dairy women”, says Trish.
“Jess represents what our young women can be in dairying. She is engaged, passionate, empowered and driven to help the sector to succeed as well as those around her,” says Trish.
Jess lives with her Husband Don and their three children near Gore in Southland. They own a dairy farm and lease a nearby support block. Jess, until recently, was the Chair of her local DWN Business Group and enjoys connecting people.
“I joined DWN to push myself out of my comfort zone and build my confidence in public speaking. It’s wonderful to join the Board and become a Trustee. I look forward to the discussions, and being part of a fantastic groups of women who are as passionate as I am in making a positive difference to our sector”, says Jess.
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Photo: Supplied by DWN; Karen Forlong and Jess Moore
For more information:
Sarah van Munster
Insights and Media Manager
Phone: 07 974 4852
media@dwn.org.nz
