Applications open for 2027 Zanda McDonald Award
Applications are set to open for the 2027 Zanda McDonald Award, a trans-Tasman award recognised for identifying and fast-tracking talented young leaders in agriculture and agribusiness.
It aims to address a gap in how board, trustee and committee roles reach the people best placed to fill them.
Rural and Regional Governance New Zealand was founded by Palmerston North-based governance practitioner Stefan Speller after 14 years of observing the same problem from the inside.
“The regions are full of capable directors and trustees who cannot find the roles that match their experience, and organisations that cannot find the people who understand their communities,” Speller says.
“Nobody had built the infrastructure specifically for rural and regional governance. That is what RRGNZ is.”
Platforms that aggregate volunteer and community opportunities are not new. What RRGNZ adds is a specific focus on governance roles across rural and regional New Zealand, drawing from sources that general platforms do not consistently cover: council websites, CCO careers pages, statutory body job boards, cooperative election cycles, and sector publications. This includes roles advertised in Facebook posts, on organisations’ own websites, and in places that never reach a dedicated board recruitment platform.
Organisations can submit vacancies directly at no cost, but submission is not required. If a role is publicly listed elsewhere, RRGNZ will find it and increase its visibility, directing traffic to the original source. Organisations do not need to choose between platforms.
