Helen Wilson, Recruitment and Awards Committee
It’s time to get nominations in for NPA positions and volunteer awards (see notices on opposite page). We’d love to see some new faces, perspectives and energy on our various working groups. And we’d love to know who YOU think has made an exceptional contribution to NPA. As a voluntary organisation, we depend on the time and skills contributed by members. But to be vibrant and resilient into the future, we need to maintain strong diversity across all our groups, while also openly acknowledging the great efforts that members selflessly perform.
The Recruitment and Awards Committee has been examining all our working groups to check whether they need members with particular skills or characteristics. We were pleased to find that a previous gender gap has largely been rectified, with more women in prominent positions. We have tremendous depth of knowledge and experience on our committees, but gaps can develop when long-term officeholders retire from active duty. We also need people with specific skills and experience, for example, with digital platforms. This will be extremely important for reaching a new generation of younger members.
We also found that some branches aren’t represented as fully as they could be. The conservation groups (Landscape Conservation and Park Management) would benefit from perspectives from all parts of the State, particularly where there are major issues. Branches vary in size, focus and energy, creating different problems. The Membership Committee would appreciate input from a greater variety of branches. Over time we want to see a wider geographical representation across all our committees.
Some individuals and groups give fantastic energy and passion to NPA and help us to be the best we can. We like to acknowledge their contribution, whether it be to our nature advocacy, our activities program or our governance. That’s the purpose of our annual Volunteer Awards. At our celebratory annual dinner last year we awarded Paul Lynch for being an outstanding walks leader in the Sydney area, Pam McCann for her great work for the Central Coast Branch, Coleta Richards for her leadership on the Mid North Coast, Liz Jeremy for initiative and guidance in both Coffs Coast and the wider organisation, and Ross McDonnell for enormous conservation efforts around the State. This year’s awards will be presented online at the NPA Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 18 November.
Note that groups can be nominated for an award (not just individuals). So if you know a successful team, whether a branch or specialist committee, a bush regeneration group, a market stall team or any other group doing great things for NPA, please consider nominating them. Award categories are under review, and we are considering a specific ‘group award’. For any comments, expressions of interest or enquiries please contact Helen Wilson, helenw@npansw.org.au.