Programme Directors
Our friendly and professional management team is based at our office in Northern Wairarapa. We also have a large group of expert advisors and programme facilitators based throughout New Zealand.
AWDT graduates feature strongly in our management and facilitation teams. Not only do they bring their own expertise, but having completed one or more AWDT programmes, they understand, first-hand, the power of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with like-minded women to provide a rich learning experience for all.
Meet our Programme Directors
We’re here to help – read about each of our roles here. Because we all help each other out in our busy office, when you phone us (06 377 4560) any one of us may answer.
- Loshni Manikam
- Sara Heard
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Loshni Manikam - Escalator
Loshni is our Escalator Programme Director and also facilitates part of the Understanding Your Farming Business programme.
Loshni’s fascination with human behaviour has seen her career progress from law to dairy farming to leadership coaching and training when she obtained her coach certification from the NeuroLeadership Group in 2012.
A graduate of the Escalator programme, Loshni is also a director of a dairy-farming operation in Southland where she farms with her husband and 3 sometimes-lovely children.
She specialises in working in the agri-sector as she firmly believes that people are the key component of the sector’s continued success – unlocking their potential has benefits for the individuals, their communities and the sector.
loshni@awdt.org.nz -
Sara Heard - First Steps
Sara has been working with First Steps since graduating from the programme herself in 2012. She is an accredited International Coach Federation (ICF) coach.
Sara combines coaching and communication skills with her natural empathy and warmth to bring out the best in others, to support their growth and development.
A born and bred farmer, Sara experiences first-hand the multiple roles of a farming woman. She combines her AWDT role with working alongside her husband as an equity partner in a sheep, beef and cropping business.
“The key skills I picked up during UYFB have to do with helping people overcome resistance to change, being an instrument of change and skills to do with promoting effective communication.” Graduate and #criticalfarmingpartner Meg Wheatstone sharing her experience of the UYFB programme and its impact on her role in the farming business.
Visit www.awdt.org.nz/uyfb/ for more information and to register your place in 2019. Thank you Meg and Simon, and Red Meat NZ.
Happy New Year! We're back on deck and getting ready to work with 1000+ women in 2019. Will you be one of them? All of last year's programmes are back including 'It's all about YOU' which we'll be announcing dates/regions for soon so watch this space. Register for new skills, clear direction, a confidence booster and new connections at www.awdt.org.nz/programmes
“I clearly remember how I came away at the end of each session – valuing what skills I had, thinking about what I didn’t know and what I now wanted to know. Feeling positive and renewed to challenge myself and investigate more, I realised I was more than ‘I’m just’ and that what I did really counted. Coming away motivated to use what I had learnt to add value.” – UYFB graduate and #criticalfarmingpartner Rachel McKelvie.
Thanks to Red Meat NZ you can be involved in 2019. For more information and to register visit www.awdt.org.nz/uyfb/
Rachel this is what I did
Awesome stuff Rachel Mckelvie
Awesome Rachel Mckelvie, I did this also a few years back.
From us all at AWDT, Meri Kirihimete and best wishes for a relaxing and safe time out with family and friends. Our office will be closed from 22 December until we reopen on 7 January 2019. To register for our programmes please visit www.awdt.org.nz
Kia ora koutou katoa. In 2019 5 fully-funded Wāhine Māia, Wāhine Whenua programmes are taking place in Kaikohe, Gisborne, Opotiki, Christchurch and Wellington, thanks to Red Meat NZ . The programme equips and supports wāhine involved in sheep and beef farming at a trustee, management or hands on level to lift business performance.
For more information and to register visit www.awdt.org.nz/wmww/
Agri-Women's Development Trust (AWDT)
Would you like to better understand what drives your whānau, trust or incorporation’s farm? Do you want the skills and confidence to participate more fully in the business?
Wāhine Māia, Wāhine Whenua equips and supports wāhine involved in sheep and beef farming to lift business performance and become critical farming partners.
You’ll learn:
- how to measure farm performance and potential
- how to add value as a more engaged critical farming partner
- business planning to improve farm performance
- the drivers and language of your farming business
- how to find and assess financial information.
Thanks to Red Meat NZ this programme is fully funded and places are still available in Rotorua NZ, Whangarei, Northland and Tolaga Bay. For more information and to register, please visit awdt.org.nz/programmes/uyfb-wahine-maia-wahine-whenua/
