Our Stories: Vikki Coombes

Written by Emma Bell.

Vikki Coombes bwVikki Coombes is a woman of many titles and many talents. She isn’t just a kiwi, but also a self-confessed hummingbird. Having enjoyed five different careers encompassing 20 different roles, Vikki now works with other hummingbirds, coaching them to weave their multiple passions into a life that they love, alongside her management consulting contracts.

She describes hummingbirds as “people who have varied and ever-changing interests; they are frequently changing jobs, flitting from one hobby to another, starting projects and then dropping them, moving house often and always leaping into new learning opportunities. Each time they take on something new, they bring with them the wealth of experience from their previous endeavours. They’re the cross-pollinators of the world.”

As the ‘Queen of Hummingbirds’, Vikki describes herself as living a life of “constant curiosity, always on the move, growing and pushing my boundaries.” With each new role, project or challenge she takes on, she brings new ideas and challenges the status quo.

Privacy Notice May 2018

Written by Mike.

In this Privacy Notice “we”, “our”, or “us” refers to The New Zealand Business Women’s Network – a voluntary run group which is also commonly know as ‘NZBWN’ or ‘the/our Network”. We will describe how we collect, store and use your personal information as well as the rights you have in relation to your personal data.

We may collect information about you because you have signed up as a free member from the link on our home page on our website and/or attended one of our various events or programmes and we do this so we can fulfil our purpose of the Network to bring Kiwi women together to learn, connect and inspire.

By attending one of our events, joining a programme and/or being a member receiving our communications you are consenting to NZBWN storing and using the personal information you have provided us with as set out by this notice. 

What information do we collect?

In the course of communicating with you as members we may ask for information that is classed as personally identifiable to you as an individual. Depending on the situation, but in general, for a majority of our basic/regular events we will ask for your full name, email address, contact number (in case of last minute venue changes), job title, company you are currently working for and industry/special interest groups you belong to or are interested in. Depending on the type of event we may ask for dietary requirements. If you choose to apply for programmes like our mentoring programme or in-depth workshops, there maybe a need for us to collect more specific information such as CV, bio/profile, background. This may also apply if you are a guest speaker at one of our events, we are putting you forward for an award or article for our website.

In addition to this basic information required for us to run our events we use systems such as Mailchimp and google analytics which provide general statistics such as percentage of communications which have been opened and where we are receiving hits on our website. This is tracked to you as an individual. If we send out an event survey for feedback via Survey Monkey the responses are anonymised. We track this information so that we share relevant and interesting information for Kiwi women in our Network.

Ways in which we might use your information

As from inception, NZBWN is committed to respecting your privacy and personal information and will only use the information you have given to us to inform you of:

  • Our regular newsletter, keeping you informed about all news from our Network and wider Kiwi community, upcoming events, recent events, information from the New Zealand High Commission and articles on members
  • Information about our events, workshops and programmes
  • Member information and requests via our fortnightly Kiwi exchange
  • The opportunity to have your say in response to surveys to help identify relevant topics, speakers for events and programmes.

We hold your information in Mailchimp which is GDPR compliant and you can update your preferences at any time using the "update profile" link on any of the email communications we send you. 

Retention of information

Event and programme attendance information is recorded through Eventbrite and will be deleted after a reasonable time to allow for any post event follow-up as needed.

Use of images

We record our events usually via a photographer and in some situations have video or recording devices recording guest speakers. These images and recordings are used in newsletters and social media to share the purpose of our Network to help Kiwi women learn, connect and be inspired. If you do not want to be photographed you will be given the opportunity to notify us upon registering for an event.

Confidentiality

We respect our relationship with you as a member of NZBWN and treat the information you provide us with as confidential. As from the outset of the Network we do not sell any personal data onto third parties and we do not share any personal information about you to others in the NZBWN community without your permission.

Use of third parties

In the course of running events and programmes and communicating with you we need to use a range of platforms to perform these tasks and so we will disclose your personal information to providers including Mailchimp, Eventbrite, Survey Monkey, Google Analytics.

Protection of your information

NZBWN protects your information through using secure processors as listed above and our volunteer team are committed to protecting your information.

Your Rights

If you have already consented to NZBWN using and holding your personal information you are within your rights to withdraw this consent at any time by the way in which consent was granted. You also have the right to apply for a copy of the information we hold about you. This is called a data subject access request, and can be made by contacting NZBWN via info@nzwomen.co.uk

If you don’t want to receive any information from us

If you do not want to be part of the Network then you can request to be removed from our records, simply email remove@nzwomen.co.uk

If you do not wish to receive emails from the Network, you can update your preferences by clicking the "update your preferences" or unsubscribe link on any of our email (Via Mailchimp) communications.

Contact Information

If you have any queries regarding this Privacy Notice, or you would like to request information held you may contact info@nzwomen.co.uk

Our Stories: Mandii Pope

Written by Tracy Goodall.

Mandii Pope cropped bw gimpIf you’ve ever thought that artists are vague, creative, head-in-the-clouds types, a half hour with Mandii Pope would certainly shatter that stereotype. She may be one of New Zealand’s most prolific commercial artists but she’s also got a business nous and tech-savvy side to her that would put many MBA graduates to shame.

Today she mixes corporate consultancy with art projects and has raised over £100,000 for charities – a goal inspired by the example of philanthropist Sir Owen Glenn who sponsored a solo show in Dubai and her first UK exhibition in 2011, a break-through event in a prestigious Cork Street gallery. She reached her fundraising goal through a series of charity auctions over five years – the period she had allowed herself in which to achieve that figure.

Our Stories: Claire Kavanagh

Written by Emma Bell.

Claire Kavanaugh bw GIMP resizeMost of us will go our entire lives without ever achieving our childhood career aspirations. As a little girl, Claire Kavanagh was convinced that the role of supermarket check-out operator would be the best job in the world, because you got to push a lot of buttons! At 15, she realised this dream in the Porirua Countdown. This may have been her first foray into customer service, but thankfully her aspirations didn’t stop there.

She went on to study tourism and commerce at Victoria University, becoming particularly interested in marketing. A part-time job in Telecom’s pricing team marked the beginning of a long-term interest in telecommunications, although her favourite part of the job was moonlighting for the marketing team, which she was eventually able to move to full-time in a product management role. In 2005, the marketing team was being moved to Auckland and Claire was faced with two choices: take a voluntary redundancy, or move to Auckland. She chose the former and began a new chapter, travelling solo through South East Asia, then arriving in the UK.