Who got that job?

Were you one of the 40 people who applied for this job and wondered who got it? By KAREN GOA

Chief executive, Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind.

Paula Daye lauds her position as chief executive as "one of the best jobs I've ever had". As acting chief executive Daye helped the foundation develop a member-driven strategic plan during a sea change that saw RNZFB gain its new constitution and a member-elected board, which reappointed her in the role she'd held since November 2002.

Daye, who first trained as a nurse at St Mary's Hospital in London and moved to New Zealand in 1973, has piled up impressive "clinical credibility" in hospital and public health nursing, specialising in rehabilitation, paediatrics and obstetrics and ophthalmology.

Backed by a degree in transitional management from the University of Auckland, Daye managed Dargaville and Whangarei hospitals before taking on the job of chief executive at Coast Health Care. Disillusioned by government healthcare policies, Daye moved to RNZFB in 1999 as the divisional manager of adaptive living.

The foundation's new credo focuses on meeting the needs of the 11,500 legally blind members who use its services, from talking books to guide dogs to rehabilitation and vocational training.

Daye sees New Zealand's ageing population as the most pressing concern. Over the next three to five years an estimated 9 to 16 per cent more of us will become blind through age- or diabetes-related disease.

"The biggest challenge we face is being able to grow the revenue to meet the demand."

RNZFB operates on a $20 million annual budget made up of $6 million from government sources and the rest from fundraising.

Help is on the way from a soon-to-be-announced major three-year corporate sponsorship deal.

Daye sings high praise for her 360 staff and the "thousands of volunteers" who, she says, "go far beyond what's needed to do their jobs at the Foundation and made me proud to lead it".