We are delighted to congratulate Global Women partner organisations Araraurangi Air New Zealand and KPMG New Zealand on their wins at the 2024 Diversity Works Awards last night!
Araraurangi Air New Zealand was recognised for its leadership in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, winning the Impact Award for the work they have been carrying out to support young adults with intellectual disabilities into employment.
The airline opened Flourish Café at its Auckland office in 2022, partnering with Project Employ to provide trainees with an authentic work environment that will enable them to transition into employment and independence.
The airline’s Enable Employee Network, which supports employees who are disabled or are carers for disabled people, were key drivers of the initiative.
Ed Collett, Senior Aircraft Programmes Specialist and Co-Lead of Enable Employee Network, says that collaboration with key team members and Project Employee had been “crucial in ensuring that the café is set up to provide meaningful job opportunities and skill development for young adults with disabilities, while also embedding and developing a sustainable and inclusive business model that benefits both employees and the broader community.”
KPMG New Zealand were also recognised for their DE&I leadership as winners of the Medium-Large Organisation Diverse Talent Award, in recognition of the great strides the company has taken in creating pathways that enable Māori and Pasifika leadership.
Building on the success of Kiwa, a network focused on strengthening belonging and embedding culture for its Māori and Pasifika employees, KPMG has established Tangaroa Ara Rau, an immersive leadership programme to support Māori and Pasifika employees in their career growth.
“We needed to expand our focus from recruitment to building our pipeline of Māori and Pasifika leaders,” says Pou Ahurea Vinnie Campbell. “We were also seeing a high turnover rate of Māori and Pasifika people at manager and senior manager level.”
Since 2022, the number of Māori and Pasifika in senior leadership at KPMG has grown by 61%.
Read the full awards lineup for 2024, and explore the case studies of each winner and finalist over at Diversity Works’ website here.