Zonta District 16 convenor Souella Cumming (left) with Dr Pushpa Wood and Hutt Valley Teen Parent School principal Debbie Whiteley.
Westpac Massey Fin-Ed Centre director Dr Pushpa Wood has been awarded a 2019 Zonta New Zealand Women of Achievement Award.
Zonta International is a global organisation of professionals empowering women through service and advocacy. Fifty Women of Achievement were chosen in 2016 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Zonta in New Zealand, and a further 50 this year for the Zonta International Centennial.
The awards recognise the contribution of 50 New Zealand women towards the empowerment of women and girls nationally and globally. Nominations were made by Zonta clubs, organisations and individuals and judged by an independent panel.
The Zonta Citation says: “Dr Pushpa Wood became an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to financial literacy and interfaith relations. She was the first Indian woman awarded with this honour and the first person in New Zealand to receive an award for both financial literacy and interfaith relations. In many of her roles, she focuses on gender issues and her work also shows how she recognises the importance of culture when addressing these gender issues.”
Zonta was founded in Buffalo, New York, in 1919. The first New Zealand club was established in Auckland in 1965 and there are now 28 clubs nationally.