Ashleigh Gulliver
Speech New Zealand (SNZ) was always a term that held great power in my mind. Growing up it was the examining body — examiners always tucked away in the school chapel, and me, a bundle of nerves behind the doors waiting to be ushered in. I was always met with a smile and with pride would then present the exam work I had spent so long preparing. Following the exam I would go back to my teacher to debrief and share the questions we were asked along with any impromptu exercise topics. There was a buzz as we waited patiently over the coming days to receive our handwritten exam reports; beautiful cursive handwriting that would need to be translated for us.
I was privileged to be approached in 2009 to join the Board as a Trustee. I proudly sat around the table at my first Board meeting in awe of the other Trustees, many of whom had been my examiners over the years. We met four times a year in person and would fly to Wellington to gather at the National Office over the weekend. I would often re-read my printed and colour-coded Board papers on the plane on the way down which would start many a conversation with the person sitting next to me. I would rave about SNZ and they would often have never heard of it.
Those weekends were busy; arriving straight into meetings and racing up to the Novotel at the end of the day for a well-earned wine in the bar before dinner. Those dinner and post-dinner conversations were often where all of our best work was done; conversations about growth, building student numbers, new technology and systems were often hot topics. The following day we would reconvene and work through the agenda until it was time to fly again. Appearing at the airport, the eight of us all travelled onwards to different destinations hoping that we could slip into Koru through another's membership to wait for boarding. Again, it was the downtime that allowed for constructive conversation, deliberation of meeting items, and connection. It was also time to hope that your plane would actually fly, as there seemed to be at least one meeting a year where the weather on the return was so horrific, that we couldn’t leave or were severely delayed.
I spent years admiring the knowledge, dedication and commitment the Trustees and National Office staff showed. Their passion and belief in SNZ and the hours of voluntary work underpinned the smooth running of the organisation. I am very proud to have been a part of the inner workings for many years and am pleased to continue my support of this incredible organisation for many years to come.
Sir Isaac Newton once said, “if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Gabrielle Thurston, Pam Logan, Claire Marsh, Meredith Caisley, Helen Balch, Karen Austin and Maureen Gray — I thank you for being beside me on this journey and for being instrumental figures in not only my life, but that of Speech New Zealand.
