Dr Jo Cribb is a powerhouse who has had a sense of social justice from an early age, going on to work towards stopping child poverty, violence against women and homelessness and working towards pay equity.
A previous chief executive of the Ministry for Women — one of the youngest chief executives ever appointed in the New Zealand public service — she is a professional director and consultant with a focus on governance, strategy, leadership coaching and gender-focused initiatives.
She is coming to Gore next month for the Inspiring Wāhine Rural Conference & Events which is being held from October 15-17 and coincides with International Rural Women’s Day.
It is the second Inspiring Wāhine gathering — the first was held in Alexandra last year — founded by Clare Toia-Bailey to energise, connect, celebrate and uplift rural women from all walks of life.
That is something that resonates with Dr Cribb who described it as a treat to be able to attend and pointed out that just because it was being held in a small, rural town, it should not be assumed the quality of discussions would be anything other than world class.
Originally from the outskirts of Christchurch and now living in Wellington, Dr Cribb might look like a city girl on the surface, but she identifies as a rural woman.
She has a cottage and small vineyard in Martinborough and the Wairarapa landscape provided a similar sense of peace and place to growing up amid the open plains of Canterbury, bounded by hills.
"I just love it and spending time there. As soon as I turn the corner and drop down ... I think my heart rate just drops and my blood pressure just normalises."
Describing it as "the coolest little spot", Dr Cribb said Martinborough was a working town and, while the wine industry might seem romantic, farming grapes was no walk in the park.
"These grapes don’t just pop up; a huge amount of hard work goes into it in the background," she said.
The town was founded off the back of some gutsy decisions.
Several scientists who lived in Wellington and had done soil work for the DSIR realised the area was very similar to Burgundy in France and took a punt and planted some grapes, she said.
That microcosm of the Kiwi battler was something that hugely appealed to her, plus there was also good coffee in the town, she said.
Dr Cribb, who recently returned from working on an outer island of Papua New Guinea, on a Volunteer Service Abroad assignment on anti-corruption, has a host of roles alongside her consultancy.
She is chairwoman of the Wellington Homeless Women’s Trust and worked with other providers to form the Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness.
In Wellington, there were women in their 60s and 70s who were homeless — "that’s your nana without a home" — and that was something which broke her heart.
While the plight of homeless women had been invisible, it was going to be part of New Zealand’s social landscape as women retired with less money.
Dr Cribb was co-founder of pay equity organisation Mind The Gap and there was still a huge amount of work to do in that space, she said.
In her consultancy, she was working with a lot of boards, particularly in the community sector, around their own performance and strategy.
She also had her own directorships including the New Zealand Wine Growers board and the Media Council.
"One has to earn one’s wine basically to make it taste better," she said.
Often women were the "unsung heroes", propping up the community sector. And while the ultimate pillar of governance might appear to be an appointment to the board of a stock-exchange listed company, arguably the most value could come out of holding together the local foodbank.
That could be a much more complex and difficult role.
Those working in community governance had no legal team to help, nor a chief executive on a million-dollar salary.
Yet they managed to "pull off miracles" while usually downplaying their role of being "just a volunteer".
"These are just amazing women doing amazing things," she said.
One of those women was Ms Toia-Bailey who was highlighting the role of rural women through Inspiring Wāhine which focused on personal wellbeing and growth.
This year’s theme is Thriving Together: Cultivating Inspiration and Resilience.
The main focus is on women’s health and wellbeing and the programme will also focus on community engagement, leadership, business, creativity and extending their reach.
Guest speakers include Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience co-founder Dr Denise Quinlan, gynaecologist and co-director of Te Waka Wahine Hauora — The Women’s Health Bus Dr Helen Paterson, award-winning author and educator Pauline Smith, celebrity chef Nadia Lim and Whānau Consultancy Services founder Serena Lyders.
