With extensive experience as a leader in the primary and community health and social services sector, the Dunedin woman has been in management and leadership roles in the NGO sector for more than 20 years.
She is chief executive of the Corstorphine Baptist Community Trust which offers a range of community-based and residential support services for adults, youth and children affected by mental health and disability.
She has had a successful career in community governance, including the likes of school boards of trustees and sports clubs and she is chairwoman of Dunedin’s Trinity Catholic College Board and deputy chairwoman of the Otago Community Trust.
Mentoring for diversity is a year-long programme for experienced directors with the goal of achieving a non-executive director role on a large private company or public sector board, an NZX-listed board or as a trustee for a large not-for-profit organisation.
Launched in 2011 to link experienced female directors (mentees) with chairs and senior directors (mentors) from NZX and large company boards, it was expanded in 2015 to promote board diversity and applications were welcomed on the basis of diversity including gender, ethnicity, LGBTI affinity, age, culture, disability, background, sector and experience.
Successful applicants were matched with a senior director for a year-long programme of one-on-one mentoring to help build a deeper understanding of governance practices, understand the expectations on the boards of large entities and identify any skill gaps.
While Ms Long had been a member of IoD for about five years, she had not previously been particularly engaged with the organisation, much of that to do with her perception of "what a director had to be", she recalled.
She loved governance.
It was about giving back, having the capacity to make a difference and being involved in the likes of strategic discussions and direction.
While looking at what was available when it came to her next steps and how she could start evaluating herself and improving her self-confidence, she came across the programme and decided it could fit the bill. Now she could not recommend it highly enough, saying it made it very clear what skills she had and enabled her to articulate those skills and expertise much better.
Ms Long was matched with her mentor Mel Templeton, a Wellington-based independent director with extensive governance experience spanning both public and private sectors in fintech, agtech and digital banking.
She was very clear she did not want her mentor to be Dunedin based — "I wanted somebody way outside my comfort zone" — and they met via Microsoft Teams as well as face-to-face.
The programme taught Ms Long how to articulate her ideas and led her to value what she brought to the table and her community.
"You’ll end up valuing yourself more than you anticipate, learn a lot, and it will meet your personal challenges," she said.
The programme made her dedicate time to her governance career and she now intended to do the IoD’s company directors’ course, something she would never have previously considered.
She acknowledged she had "lofty goals" and, long-term, would like to leave paid employment or reduce her hours.
She was keen on public sector boards and the likes of Crown agency Kāinga Ora was an entity she felt both her skill mix and philosophy aligned with.
Through the programme, she had learned a lot more about what the opportunities were although it would probably be at least two years before she could be implementing more governance, she said.
Governance was very important for the function of a country and, whether it was the local football club or a state sector appointment, all were equally as valuable and equally needed.
She is now mentoring two new general managers within the NGO sector in Dunedin.
Applications are now open for the 2024 mentoring for diversity programme and will close on April 8. Mentees will be announced in May.
IoD Otago-Southland branch chairwoman Trish Oakley encouraged applications from those who had worked hard in governance and now wanted to "take the next step".
"Building your understanding out further of governance practices and the expectations of large entities is how mentoring for diversity can help. Through this programme I have seen mentees understand better their value as a director, where to focus their governance learning to better prepare them for future roles and even understand if governance is the right pathway for them."
"Throughout my time in governance I have been privileged to have received wonderful mentorship.
"Mentorship can be both formal and informal and while not everyone will be successful in gaining entry to this programme, reaching out within the director community and building relationships to learn and grow is something I would encourage all directors to do.
"You may well find that mentors’ equally value the conversations and the different perspectives that different directors can bring to their own thinking," she said.
