Senior lecturer named a finalist in Women of Influence Awards

Presented by Stuff and Westpac, the Women of Influence programme shares the remarkable stories of women who are making a difference to the lives of New Zealanders. Each year, the programme shines a light on the amazing work Kiwi women are doing, from a grassroots level to the global stage, and helps propel New Zealand’s future leaders and rising stars to bigger and better things.

Dr Farrelly says this is an opportunity to celebrate the women in Aotearoa who have worked incredibly hard to protect their communities from plastic pollution.

“There are so many incredibly influential women listed as finalists so I am feeling like a bit of an imposter. However, over the last 24 hours I have come to see this as an opportunity to showcase the human rights injustices of plastic pollution.

“This provides a platform to express profound gratitude and aroha for all those passionate and brilliant wāhine in Aotearoa and around the world who have volunteered hundreds of hours of time, wisdom, and labour to protecting their communities from plastic pollution. Many of these women juggle family responsibilities and extremely demanding day jobs. I suspect some of these women are on the cusp of burnout (and others have described past burnout). They never rest because they know that if they don’t do the mahi, nobody else will. This is also an opportunity for me to reflect on my privilege and the responsibilities and obligations that come with it.”

Due to COVID-19 disruptions, the awards celebration originally scheduled for 21 October is now postponed to 10 February 2022. You can register your interest for awards tickets here.