Grant recipient shares valuable insights from the 2021 Auckland Summit
"Know your worth and where this places you in the market."
"Be an ‘intrapreneur’ and work like an entrepreneur inside the system."
"Don’t be afraid to walk away from the familiar towards new opportunities – they will help you learn."
These are the top messages Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Fale advisor Elsa Pelman took away from the Auckland Women in Public Service Summit held in June.
Elsa, of Samoan descent and from the villages of Tafitoala, Safata, and Satupa’itea, was one of nine young public servants around New Zealand awarded a Government Women’s Network grant to attend the Auckland Summit in June.
She was delighted to have had the chance to attend and said she would ‘recommend, 100%’ the summit experience for other young public servants.
“There’s so much value in events like this. We can learn together, connect with new people and grow both professionally and personally,” Elsa said.
Elsa is planning to share her insights with her team, and Pacific colleagues in the Oceans Network at Te Kawa Mataaho. She’s also taken the opportunity to highlight her positive experience of the summit at a recent Staff Talk at the Commission.
Putting what she has learned into practise will mean venturing outside Elsa’s comfort zone. But that’s a challenge she’s up for.
