Setting dairying women on the right path

 Hawke's Bay dairy farmer Zoe Kuriger and Arohena dairy farmer Cathy Prendergast were among the first intake of the Pathways Programme, which is run in two modules – the first held in November last year.

With funding from DairyNZ and Ministry for Primary Industries, the programme is a collaborative venture between Dairy Women's Network and AWDT and is designed specifically for women in the business of dairying.

Kuriger recently won the 2014 Hawke's Bay/Wairarapa Sharemilker of the Year and six merit awards, along with her husband. She says that for her, the most important aspect of the programme was the ability to undertake professional development as an individual.

"One piece of feedback we consistently received from the awards judges was that I had a very involved role in the business and that my husband and I shared responsibility well," she says.

"So many of the courses available in the dairy industry, especially in the leadership space, are couple-oriented, but I found it an empowering and valuable experience to be able to do the Pathways Programme on my own."

Kuriger says the well thought out programme evolved giving the women freedom to build on ideas and enhance their skills.

Prendergast agrees and says she found extra benefit from Pathways having already completed AWDT's First Steps Programme.

"It was the perfect precursor to Pathways, because First Steps made you look at where you were at in life and how got there. While Pathways challenges you to look outside yourself and objectively think about how others might see you, which I found very enlightening," she says

"The programme affirmed the value of the role I play in our business and gave me some great tools and ideas to work with."

In addition to the two modules held six months apart, the Pathways Programme includes three coaching and mentoring sessions in between.

Both women say the programme is adaptable across dairy businesses and equips participants with the skills to take on various leadership positions.

"Simply taking the time for myself to do something was great and seems to be something that a lot of rural women find hard to do," says Kuriger.