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NZBWN member Tania Bearsley: UK New Zealander of the Year

Written by Bronwyn Huband.

A huge congratulations to one of our valued members and Kea New Zealand’s UK and Europe Regional Director, Tania Bearsley, who was awarded UK New Zealander of the Year.  nzer year nzbwn 2020

The award, presented by the New Zealand Society of the United Kingdom at the recent Waitangi Day Ball in London, celebrates Kiwis living and working in the UK who are doing great things for the NZ community.

Bronwen Horton, New Zealand Business Women's Network Founder, said: "We are absolutely over the moon that Tania has won this prestigious award. It's recognition of her contribution to the NZ community over the last 10 years, not only in her current role, but in everything she has done. Tania is an active member and avid supporter and ambassador of NZBWN, taking every opportunity to introduce new women and businesses to our network."

In 2019, Tania was instrumental in organising the Stand for Solidarity with New Zealand event at Trafalgar Square, bringing together the Kiwi community following the Christchurch Mosque attacks.

But her honour roll is a lot longer than that. She has given endless time and energy to our network as  a volunteer, as well as the New Zealand Society (UK) and of course Kea New Zealand.

Watch Tania’s interview with TVNZ to hear from her about what it means to win the award and her passion for NZ.

Tania joins a long list of NZBWN members and Kiwi women in our community who have taken the award over the years:

2004 Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas

2006 Susan Glynn

2009 Esther Jessop

2010 Anna Hansen

2013 Bronwen Horton

2015 Katherine Corich

2017 Lady Alexandra Smith

2018 Dame Kiri te Kanawa

2019 Ereti Mitchell

We strive to ensure each year we put forward women from our Network and the Kiwi community working hard to advance the relationship between the UK and NZ. We love flying the flag, fan-girling and celebrating what our Kiwi women are doing.

We caught up with her ahead of the announcement last month on what makes her tick, her passion for New Zealand and everything she does for our community in the UK.