Kia Orana and welcome to BPW update on Woman of the Year 2010/11 Award in Association with Westpac Cook Islands, held 10th June 2011 at Muri Beach Club Hotel, Muri, Rarotonga.

Firstly I would like to congratulate all the nominees - Vaine Nooana Arioka, Julie Bateman, Kay George, Maeva Henry, Moana Hunter, Nadine Newnham, Shona Pitt, Madeline Sword, Rosa Tauia, Glenda Tuaine, Tai Wichman and your nominator's who believed in you and nominated you.

Nominations closed Monday 30th May 2011 and an Independent judging panel held the judging process Thursday 2nd June to select only one winner.
It was an enormous task and was never going to be an easy one for these 5 judges - Aunty Mau Munokoa, Steve Anderson, Teresa Manarangi'Trott, Keta Williams and Marie Francis. No one knew who the judges were or how many, only the BPW WOTY Executive Team and this would also be announced on the night.
The caliber of the nominees was such it sent the judges into "look down mode" until they reached a decision.
This they did some 2 hours later and only the judges knew who the WOTY 2010/11 was until the night of the Awards, where the winner would be announced.

The BPW Committee got busy organising the event, which went into overdrive once we knew just how the tickets were selling and it was a sellout. In fact we had to add extra seating outside around the pool area at Muri Beach Club Hotel and thank you to Kelly Bullivant, BPW's Treasurer and Liana Scott, Manger of the Hotel, this was speedily done.
Timing for the event kicked off at 6pm and the evening saw quite a few guests arrive early.
Champagne was ready for the arriving guests at reception area and guests moved down towards the restaurant, on the beautiful Muri Beach.
Our BPW gals were at the ready to escort dignitaries and guests to their respective seats and let the show begin.
I had asked Frances Topa-Apera Fariu to be our MC for the evening and just as Frances delivered such a professional job back in 2003, when I had asked her to be BPW WOTY MC, she delivered a superb evening line up at this event as well.
Our entertainment for the evening was the gorgeous Tara Kauvai, who's magical voice is a dream to listen to.
The Opening Prayer was given by Te Tika Mataiapo Dorice Reid, who was honored at these Awards by receiving the Inaugural BPW Patron's Award. It is with much sadness our beloved Life Member of BPW, Dorice Reid passed away 16th June 2011 in Auckland, NZ.

With the President's and the Patron's speeches done, it was time for Mr Rob Buick, Manager, Westpac Cook Islands to address the waiting crowd and advise Westpac's sponsorship and then kai kai (food) time and the buffet which was a delight with the many dishes to choose from plus the lovely dessert, Liana and her team did the Hotel proud.
There was much speculation who was going to win, but only the judges knew and it was with much anticipation when the Chief Judge Mr Steve Anderson got up to advise the audience how they reached their decision. He then handed the sealed envelope over to me to announce who was going to take the Award home and just over NZ$13.000.00 in prizes, including a Westpac Cook Islands bank account of NZ$2500.00.
"And to announce the winner of BPW Woman of the Year 2010/11 goes to Nadine Newnham".
A huge round of applause saw the house come down and a very humble Nadine came to the stage to accept the trophy and all the sponsored gifts she would receive and also give her address.
It was a fantastic event, one the Cook Islands Business and Professional Women's Association can be proud of and carry this on recognising women in business and the profession's, recognising the important role women play in ours and every community around the world.

I would like to acknowledge Rob Buick of Westpac Cook Islands for coming on board as our major sponsor, to our other main sponsors, Air NZ, Air Rarotonga, Pacific Resort - Aitutaki, Muri Beach Club Hotel and Bergman and Sons and to all our other sponsors, with out people like you and your businesses, there would be no WOTY. BPW are very grateful for your continued support for this Award and thank you all.
I would also like to thank our Committee who gave so generously of their time and energy, our husbands and partners who supported us during the lead up to and delivering these amazing Awards, to Liana Scott and her Muri Beach Club Hotel Team, it was a truly blessed event and evening and to everyone who came along to this event and made it so special.

Meitaki maata

Dawn Baudinet
President
CIBPWA

CIBPW Executive Committee 2010/11

The following are the current Executive Committee of BPW - Cook Islands

President - Dawn Baudinet
1st Vice President - Trish Barton
2nd Vice President - Theresa Barrett
Secretary - Shannon Saunders
Treasurer - Kelly Bullivant
Committee Members:
Jenner Davis
Teina Mackenzie
Gaye Whitta

CIBPW - Woman of The Year 2010/11 Award

Kia Orana,

The Cook Islands Business & Professional Women's Association are hosting the 2010/11 Woman of The Year Awards, Friday 10th June 2011 at Muri Beach Resort Hotel, Muri, Rarotonga, Cook Islands in Association with Westpac Bank, Rarotonga.

Nomination Forms can be picked up from Westpac Bank, Stationery Supplies or CITC Pharmacy. Nominations close Monday 30th May 2011.
Once completed, place in a sealed envelope and pop into one of the special boxes Stationery Supplies or CITC Pharmacy.

This Award will recognise the success of one woman in her chosen profession. You do not have to own your own business but you must be in the work force. You could also work in the Public Sector, as a dental nurse, nurse, school teacher, police woman, firefighter as your chosen field of work.

BPW have not held this Award since 2006 and we are bringing this back to celebrate the achievements of our local women.
Part of the criteria - you must be a Cook Islander or Permanent Residence (PR status).

There will be 5 Independent Judges who will select the winner of this Award. BPW Executive Committee will not be part of the selection process of the winner, only in the selection of the judges.

The prize package includes a $2500.00 (cash) bank a/c with Westpac Bank, a return trip to NZ courtesy of Air NZ, Rarotonga, return airfares for 2 to Aitutaki, flying Air Rarotonga, a fabulous piece of jewellery from Berman's, a 2 night stay at the beautiful Pacific Resort & Spa in Aitutaki and much, much more.

BPW would like to thank Westpac Bank for coming on board as this year's major sponsor. We would like to thank Air NZ and Air Rarotonga who have continued to support these Awards over the year's.
We would also like to thank the new support we have from Bergman & Sons, Pacific Resort & Spa in Aitutaki for their generous contribution and all our other sponsors.
It goes without saying, if we did not have the support from our local businesses, this Award would not be possible.

Meitaki maata

Dawn Baudinet
President
CIBPW

Westpac Cash Flow Workshop

Business & Professional Women's Association would like to thank Megan Shannon & Rob Buick of Westpac Bank Cook Islands, for hosting a cashflow workshop for especially for our organization. The workshop last Wednesday, 18th of May, 2011 at Edgewater Resort & Spa was very beneficial to our members and entertaining. We would like to thank all those who attended, and hope that our young ladies from Tereora College gained a very valueable experience from this workshop.

Meitaki maata
Dawn Baudinet
President

Meet & greet night

Another lovely networking evening with the Cook Island's Business & Professional Women's Association held at the New Zealand's High Commissioner's Residence in Ngatipa last July 9, 2009.


The Association introduced the executives for 2009 to 2010 namely:

Angela Charlie - President
Theresa Barrett - Vice President

Patricia Barton - Vice President
Kelly Bullivant - Secretary

Andrea Cruz - Treasurer
Erica Anderson - Executive member
Dawn Baudinet - Executive member
Helen Greig - Executive member

Meitaki Maata to all of you who came and made the night successful.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key's Visit to Rarotonga

On Wednesday 8 July, Prime Minister John Key, his wife Bronagh and a delegation of 80 people from a broad cross-section of New Zealand society arrived on a RNZAF flight on the last stage of their whistle stop tour of four Pacific countries – Tonga, Samoa, Niue and the Cook Islands. They were met on arrival by an official delegation led by Prime Minister Jim Marurai as well as their own High Commissioner Tia Barrett and CIBPW Vice-President Theresa Barrett.

This was the Keys’ first visit to Rarotonga. Prime Minister Jim Marurai hosted them and their delegation to dinner and entertainment at the Edgewater on their arrival.

The next day 9 July was devoted to a busy programme of meetings and discussions with Government, the business community (including CIBPW), tourism sector (on Koromiri Island), and the House of Ariki and the Koutu Nui.

The New Zealand High Commissioner hosted a luncheon at Ngatipa which was well attended. A hip hop group brought over in the PM’s delegation, Prestige, performed to the delight of those at the reception, and they also held an extremely popular gig for Tereora College. Prestige were placed second in the World Hip Hop competitions in the US this year.

CIBPW Executives attended a meeting Mr Key had with the Chambers of Commerce, as well as the luncheon at Ngatipa and a small morning tea with Mrs Key at Salsa Restaurant with other local business women.

Mr Key and his delegation left that day, their quick visit lasting just under 24 hours.

President's Report

PRESIDENT’S REPORT JUNE 2008 TO APRIL 2009

Kia Orana and Welcome to the President’s Report on current progress of Cook Islands Business and Professional Women’s Association for 2008 – 2009.

Year 2008 started with a slow momentum and constantly accelerated to achieving high standards by the end of the year.

As President, my personal aim and challenges I would be facing at the beginning of the year was to further ‘empower and engage more women of all professions’ to attend Cook Islands Business and Professional Women’s Association events to learn more about our organisation.
Highlights and successes achieved in 2008 by the Executives and shared with existing and new members will forever remain in my heart due to the timeless contributions and efforts my executives have put into making 2008 a very successful year for women in the Cook Islands.

Guest Speaker Events
I would like to thank the guest speakers for accepting our invitations to share their personal experiences, personal and professional challenges and words of empowerment to open up further and new opportunities. Through these events, networking contacts, personal and empowering development for women has grown significantly leading to some great achievements for Cook Islands Business & Professional Women’s Association throughout 2008.
Holding the guest speaker events was to enhance our mission statement “Networking, Development and Leadership Skills” by creating empowerment through ‘meeting and greeting’ to share ideas, to build self confidence, and to engage women of all professions.
I would like to acknowledge Jo Akroyd, Helen Henry, the patron of BPW, Rhonda Smith and Jane Kittle for their kind contributions towards the association and the guest speaker events with “Empowering and Engaring Women of all Professions" through luncheon and dinner events

Highlights of Year 2008 for Cook Islands Business and Professional Women’s Association

a. BRIDGE (Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections) Train the Facilitator (TTF)
In relation to submitting an application to Internal Affairs for “Women in Governance Programme” I received an invitation to attend a workshop which was co-sponsored by The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), UNIFEM Pacific, and Advancing Gender Equality in Political Governance Programme (GEPG) to funding a pilot Training the Facilitators (TTF) Course. The aim of the training was to accredit a high quality group of facilitators using the BRIDGE methodology. This is an excellent election administration training course using many adult learning techniques. The training was held from the 17th November to 28th November 2008 at the Community Education Training Centre (CETC) situated at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in Narere, Fiji where the participants were also hosted and accommodated.
I attended this training course as a representative of Non-Government Organisations of the Cook Islands and as President of BPW. It was an honour and privilege to be representing the Cook Islands at this training course where the use of the BRIDGE methodology can assist with conducting a more effective and efficient training in the Cook Islands to help empower women to become stronger citizens and leaders through participation in leadership roles and decision making bodies.
I and my fellow participant Coralie-Ann Bishoff Towgood from Internal Affairs : Gender and Development Division together with 18 other participants from around the pacific were successfully awarded a Partial Accreditation Completion Certificate Level 4 as a BRIDGE facilitator using the BRIDGE methodology at the end of the training course.
This training course will greatly contribute to achieving a successful launch of our intended 2009 programme “Women in Governance” to empower women of the Cook Islands to become stronger citizens and leaders in their respective roles.

b. Women in Business Award
Jane Kittle Asia Pacific General Manager of Westpac Banking Corporation had the privilege of meeting with BPW over a luncheon and to share her personal experiences and challenges as a successful woman throughout her career and in particular with Westpac Banking Corporation Limited. Through this networking ‘meet and greet’ with empowered guest speakers to share with the association that Cook Islands Business and Professional Women’s Association has been kindly invited to assist with a new programme Westpac Banking Corporation Limited has currently successfully implemented in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Samoa in the last two years and with their main focus of implementing the same programme in the Cook Islands in 2009. This is an excellent opportunity for our organisation to further empower women of the Cook Islands to be stronger citizens and leaders.

Upcoming Events / Plans for 2009 - 2010
BPW Executive Members have branched out to other Non-Government Organisations to closely work together in building stronger networking, development and leadership skills. It is through these networking events that BPW will further develop and enhance women to become stronger citizens and leaders.
For 2009, BPW has been successful in working together closely with other NGO’s Women Organisations to acknowledge the likes PPSEAWA, Cook Islands National Council of Women, PTI and Ministry of Internal Affairs: Gender and Development Division in implementing “Women in Politics Programme”. This is a great opportunity for us to further achieve our goals in successfully implementing our “Women in Governance Programme” to assist women who are intending to become possible candidates for the upcoming General Elections in 2010.
Furthermore, we will update CIBPWA members on the upcoming plans for launching “Westpac Women in Business Award” in the Cook Islands for the very first time which will further enhance our recognition within the community and the Cook Islands as a whole.
I would like to personally extend my sincere gratitude to all the lovely women of CIBPWA for your fantastic support throughout the year in enhancing Business and Professional Women’ Association in building a networking front as well as mentoring and encouraging the personal developments of a group of women as well as individuals.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the following:
· CIBPWA members for your continuous support towards my year as President. I thank you all for your kind and encouraging words of empowerment in providing me support and continuous strive to achieving greater successes in personal and professional development.
· Thank you to the members for introducing your friends and families to CIBPWA and always encouraging other women to attend and witness the different events CIBPWA has to offer in building networking contacts, mentoring and empowering.
· To our guest speakers who have accepted our invitations to speak at our luncheons and dinners, your timeless contributions to empowering, mentoring, networking and development have opened windows of opportunities for women to further developments within our humble organisation.

Lastly, to my fellow Executives, I thank each one of you for your kind, warm and fantastic support throughout 2008. It was through each and every one of you, I have achieved great friends and a new family. All the successes we have encountered throughout 2008 will forever remain with me.

I wish each and every one of you all the best for the New Year.

Kia Orana e Kia Manuia

Angela Charlie
President