Business mentor Sarah Trotman made ONZM

Sarah Trotman has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Photo / File

New Year Honours: Sarah Trotman, Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Sarah Trotman, director of business relations at AUT, has been appointed an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and the community.

Trotman is an active business mentor for SMEs and was chief executive of Business Mentors New Zealand from 2000 to 2003, where she supervised free business mentoring for over 3000 small businesses annually and saw a 70 per cent increase in the number of businesses using the service.

She has organised three major initiatives for the national small and medium business sector - Business Expos, Excellence in Business Support Awards and the Bizzone Business Magazine.

Trotman helped establish the Lifewise Big Sleepout fundraising event to support people out of homelessness and is involved in social issues. She is a former trustee of the Sir Peter Blake Trust and Leadership New Zealand, and is a member of Be.Lifewise 50 Network. She has also mentored young women under the YWCA Future Leaders Programme.