2013 Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award Winners Announced

The Governor-General, Lt. Gen. The Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae, and a host of New Zealand’s most celebrated leaders came together this evening to honour six new Blake Leaders, and the 2013 Blake Medalist, at a glittering ceremony for the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards.

The Blake Medal was presented to Judge Michael (Mick) Brown by Lady Pippa Blake, who is patron of the Sir Peter Blake Trust. Lady Pippa spoke to more than 200 guests at Auckland’s Town Hall about Judge Brown’s incredible career and significant contribution to New Zealand. Judge Brown is considered to be one of the country’s most pioneering individuals, whose highly influential leadership dramatically changed the juvenile court system and greatly improved outcomes for individuals and families.

During his time as New Zealand’s first Principal Youth Court Judge, Judge Brown was personally responsible for much of the philosophy and development of the new youth court justice system, which has been replicated throughout the world.

Earlier in the evening, Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards were presented to six of New Zealand’s most exceptional emerging leaders, including: Dr Lance O’Sullivan, a prominent Kaitaia-based GP; Minnie Baragwanath, CEO and Founder of Be. Accessible; Louise Anaru, Principal of Flaxmere College; Dr Joe Harrop, Programme Director for the Sistema Aotearoa music programme; Beatrice Faumuina, CEO of BEST Leadership Academy and Nicola Ngarewa, Principal of Tamatea High School.

During the evening, the Governor-General and a number of celebrated New Zealand leaders, including Chris Mace and current Blake Leaders, Rachel Taulelei, Gary Wilson, and Chris Quin, spoke about how leadership requires more than simply excelling in your chosen field.  Often it requires people to step up and address areas critical to the country’s future success.

Sir Peter Blake Trust CEO, Shelley Campbell, commented, “This year’s award winners have demonstrated a significant contribution to future proofing New Zealand society. What is evident is that women, Maori and Pacific leaders are assuming key leadership roles in greater numbers than ever before and achieving remarkable results.  This is suggesting that the investment in diversity and cultural leadership capability, over the last decade, is beginning to pay dividends.”

Ms Campbell added, “Our newest Blake Leaders and Blake Medalist will become part of a network of individuals which have been identified as being among New Zealand’s greatest leaders, as well as leaders that are fantastic role models, with the potential to achieve even more for their communities and for New Zealand. As a member of the Sir Peter Blake Trust network they will have the opportunity to be included in future leadership activities and forums, environmental expeditions and awards events, where they are able to further network with other Blake Leaders and Medalists. Being part of this exceptional network will allow our new leaders to forge strong and effective bonds, which will help them to advance their own causes and leadership development even further.”


The Sir Peter Blake Trust Leadership Awards mark the beginning of the annual Leadership Week, which runs from 5-12 July, and concludes with Red Socks Day on Friday 12 July.

Full citations for the 2013 Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award winners, as well as further details on 2013 Leadership Week activities, are available on the Sir Peter Blake Trust website - http://www.sirpeterblaketrust.org

Image attached:
2013 Blake Leaders and Blake Medalist with Governor-General, Chris Mace and Lady Pippa Blake l-r: Beatrice Faumuina, Minnie Baragwanath, Nicola Ngarewa, Lt. Gen. The Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae, Judge Mick Brown, Chris Mace, Lady Pippa Blake, Dr. Joe Harrop, Louise Anaru and Dr. Lance O'Sullivan

Additional Information

Blake Medalist: Judge Michael (Mick) Brown
Seen as one of New Zealand’s most pioneering individuals, Mick Brown demonstrated highly influential transformational leadership that dramatically changed the juvenile court system and significantly improved outcomes for individuals and communities.  Michael, known as Mick, practised law for many years in Auckland before becoming a District Court Judge in 1980, an office he held until 1995. During that time he became the first Principal Youth Court Judge, personally responsible for much of the philosophy and development of the new youth court justice system, which has been modeled throughout the world.

Judge Brown transformed agendas, conversations and systems that endure today. He is described as humble and compassionate, yet resolute and determined in his advocacy for equity and fairness. In the late 1980s, Judge Brown introduced the concept of family conferencing, in place of criminal proceedings, for serious juvenile offenders. Conferencing puts those most affected by crime at the heart of the process. Victims, who are often unable to face or speak to offenders in court, are given a chance to express how they feel and have a say in the outcome.

This holistic approach to juvenile reform and community accountability and responsibility was an inherent part of Mick’s ethic and practice as a Maori judge, and represented a fundamentally different perspective that would transform a system. When his approach was legislated in 1989 and made the standard, it represented a world-first and the impact was enormously positive on many levels. The highly influential model he developed shone a light on significant, often overlooked issues in this country, including child poverty and social welfare.

2013 Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award winners (Blake Leaders)

Dr Joe Harrop is an accomplished musician who left a successful international career in the UK to return to New Zealand and lead the establishment of social development programme, Sistema Aotearoa. Dr Harrop has been responsible for raising the aspirations, pride and skills of children in South Auckland through learning to play musical instruments and developing the confidence to perform on stage.

Minnie Baragwanath. As CEO of organisation Be. Accessible, Minnie has a passion for transforming New Zealand into the most accessible country in the world.  A gifted communicator, with her own sight impairment, Minnie has demonstrated outstanding leadership to bring together a raft of different leadership groups, corporate and community organisations, with a focus on providing more facilities, programmes, support and understanding for people with disabilities.

Louise Anaru has led the transformation of Flaxmere College in Hastings, an underperforming decile one school, to one that is achieving extraordinary results. Louise’s philosophy stemmed from her belief that improvement in overall achievement can only be made by increasing the individual performance of every child and leading by example. This approach nurtured a sense of belief in previously poor performing students and the results have been remarkable, with achievement levels doubling during her tenure.

Dr Lance O’Sullivan has dedicated himself to addressing child poverty and improving the health and wellbeing of wh?nau in Northland, through the establishment of school based child health clinics, a comprehensive rheumatic fever programme and his GP clinic at Kaitaia hospital. He is a tireless advocate for insulating houses and healthy lifestyle programmes, in addition to training New Zealand medical students across the country in responsive primary and community health care.

Nicola Ngarewa has led a dramatic turnaround of Tamatea High School. Under her leadership, an underperforming decile three school has become an aspirational and high-achieving learning environment, rivalling some of the top schools in New Zealand.  With a belief in the ability of every individual to achieve, Nicola’s leadership style, as Principal, is one that demands results. She encourages educators, students and wh?nau to set high expectations and requires all members of the learning community to support student achievement.

Beatrice Faumuina has moved beyond her own legendary sporting career to recognise that a successful New Zealand requires strong Pacific leadership and has set about building this capability through her BEST Leadership Academy.  Now in its third year, the successful programme is producing BEST graduates who are highly sought after in the health, education and social sectors.