New boss for Rural Women NZ

"Gabrielle brings a wealth of experience from her previous general management roles in membership based organisations both in the charitable sector and most recently at the New Zealand Law Society," RWNZ president Gill Naylor says.

"This experience combined with her earlier background human resources management, facilitation and organisation development provide her with a strong background to lead our team through the next phase of our development."

O'Brien says she's looking forward to building on the strong legacy of RWNZ and working to provide the best possible platform for rural women to raise and progress issues that are important to them.

"Our rural communities are an integral part of the social and economic fabric of New Zealand.

"Women play a key role in these communities whether as primary producers, community influencers and connectors, entrepreneurs, educators or in the myriad of other essential professional and social roles they hold."

O'Brien took up her appointment at RWNZ earlier this month.