Nick Loseby introduced Adriana Christie who told us of her work with The Pallet Kingdom, a company she formed to recycle pallets into a range of furniture products manufactured to order. Have a look at https://www.facebook.com/thepalletkingdom/ or Google to learn more about this remarkable enterprise.
Surrounded by poverty, Adriana had the very mature realisation at age 13 that if you don’t have a business and you don’t generate revenue then you can’t help people. The Pallet Kingdom is turning that idea into a reality for her. Working to help those in need was always going to be a major part of Christie's life after growing up in Bogota, Colombia. Her New Zealand born grandparents had a "life calling" to go to South America and work with the poor and her parents ran an orphanage. The children, who she so happily describes as her brothers and sisters, also served as a daily reminder of the country's poverty.
Sylvie Wilkinson reported on the activities of the Ernie Johnston Memorial Trust which assisted with the purchase of a school van for Pakuranga Heights School and a glass backed basketball tower for Elm Park School. It was great that Ernie’s daughter Vonney could attend and be part of the presentations.
This week Christopher, our exchange student, told us he went fishing. He caught a 50-cm snapper – there’ll be a few of us that would aspire to do that on a regular basis!
Christopher also attended a visit to a Marae, and went to Goat Island to do some diving. With school holidays a week away, Christopher is looking forward to joining members and share their activities with them. You can contact Christopher via Don Roberts.
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population.
Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.
Dr Lester Levy is the appointed Chair of the Auckland, Waitemata and Counties Manukau District Health Boards, Auckland Transport and the Health Research Council. He is also the Independent Chair of Tonkin + Taylor. These entities have combined annual operating revenues of $6.5 billion, assets of $20 billion and 21,800 full time equivalent employees.
Lester is a Lead Reviewer for the State Service Commission’s Performance Improvement Framework, a joint central agency initiative to help public sector senior leaders lead performance improvement in their agencies and across the system. He was the foundation Head of the New Zealand Leadership Institute at the University of Auckland and is Adjunct Professor of Leadership at the University of Auckland Business School. Lester is a graduate of Medicine and a MBA with extensive management and governance experience primarily as a Chief Executive and Chairman. He is best known for leading a number of organisational performance transformations in both the public and private sectors. Lester was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2013 New Year's Honours List for services to health and education. Previously seconded to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet he has been awarded the prestigious King's Fund International Fellowship from the King's Fund in London. A Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management, Lester’s leadership research has been published in a number of international peer reviewed academic journals and he is the author of the book “Leadership and the Whirlpool Effect”.
Sylvie Wilkinson reported on the activities of the Ernie Johnston Memorial Trust which assisted with the purchase of a school van for Pakuranga Heights School and a glass backed basketball tower for Elm Park School. It was great that Ernie’s daughter Vonney could attend and be part of the presentations.
