Zelda de Villiers is stepping down from her CEO role at the Dairy Women's Network, which doubled membership during her four years at the helm.
Zelda de Villiers is stepping down from her CEO role at the Dairy Women's Network, which doubled membership during her four years at the helm.
Dairy Women's Network chief executive Zelda de Villiers will be stepping down from her role next month to focus on a new business venture in Ruawai.
She and her partner Mark Jeffries bought the Portstar Plastics Ltd company in the tiny Kaipara town last October. They now have a home at Pahi where he is living and she will stop commuting between Northland, Hamilton and Wellington and join him there permanently when Jules Benton takes over the network's top job in May.
Portstar Plastics is a plastics moulding company with 14 staff. It manufactures navigational buoys, sewage treatment systems, electrical gear and plumbing components. Mr Jeffries was formerly chief executive with Primary ITO. Earlier, he was head of the New Zealand Meat Board and LIC.
Mark Jeffries is moving from corporate leadership to plastics manufacturing at Ruawai.
Ms de Villiers was appointed chief executive of the women's network in 2014 after spending more than 20 years in various roles in the agricultural industry, including managing director of DeLaval NZ and several rural banking and finance roles in South Africa.
She said it had been a humbling and inspiring journey to lead a group that recognised and supported the contribution women made every day, not only to the businesses in which they worked but also to rural communities throughout New Zealand.
Highlights during her time as chief executive included cementing strategic partnerships with agribusinesses and DairyNZ and overseeing the growth from 5000 members to more than 10,000.
Network chairwoman Cathy Brown acknowledged de Villiers' contribution to the network. "On behalf of the board I thank Zelda for her leadership over the past four years. She leaves the network in a very strong place and we wish her well in the future."
Jules Benton says dairy women are a driving force and make extraordinary contributions across all levels of the industry.
Jules Benton was recently general manager for Wolters Kluwer CCH New Zealand, a research and workflow solutions company. Before that she spent more than a decade consulting to businesses to develop leadership capability, streamline processes and promote ongoing professional development and education.
Ms Benton says she is looking forward to working with the network and helping members make the most of the opportunities available to them.
"When I saw the opportunity come up I knew I could really bring something to this organisation. I have a lot of experience in leadership development and helping people gain the skills and tools they need to do well at all stages of their careers.
"Dairy women are a driving force and make extraordinary contributions across all levels of the industry. I very much see this role as a partnership with our staff and members to ensure dairy women's contributions are recognised and celebrated, and we're driving some important conversations.
"I think the New Zealand public hasn't yet fully grasped the breadth of knowledge and skills women bring to the dairy industry, so I'm looking forward to continuing to build on the great work the Network has been doing in this area and continuing to highlight those achievements."
With charitable trust status, the network receives project funding from DairyNZ and has a stable of influential agribusinesses and industry sponsors.
