Published by Samoa Observer 12/06/2017 The Samoan branch of the Samoa Business Network (SBN) held a networking function at Te Namo Bar, Matautu, earlier this week to host New Zealand Samoa Trade and Investment Commission (NZSTIC) Business Mission delegates and SBN New Zealand members, visiting Samoa.
In country to look at opportunities for developing trade and business between New Zealand and Samoa, the NZSTIC Business Mission was led by Tofaeono Fonoti Dr Lafitai Fuatai, Samoa Trade Commissioner in New Zealand, and Frank Po Ching, Chair of NZSTIC and Managing Director of 3 Seven Group, with support from the Samoa Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Samoa Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), and SBN. This is the second NZSTIC Business Mission to Samoa and delegates included potential and current business investors, and New Zealand-based training providers. SBN New Zealand members who were part of this delegation were Navigator Consulting Ltd. and Sewtech Training Institution. Both members had a series of fruitful meetings during the week with government departments, NGOs and private sector businesses. Potential business opportunities include offering business consultancy services in Samoa and delivering sewing and design training in Samoa. “We are delighted to have members of the NZSTIC Business Mission delegation here with us tonight, particularly as we have just formalised the partnership between SBN and NZSTIC,” said Afamasaga Jackie Curry, Chair of SBN Samoa, at the function on Tuesday night. “It is also great to see representatives from the New Zealand High Commission and the Samoa Chamber of Commerce & Industry this evening, and I’d like to thank them – along with Samoa MFAT – for their instrumental role in making this Business Mission such a success.” “SBN is passionate about Samoan businesses reaching their full potential and by reaffirming our alignment with NZSTIC, we are better positioned to continue connecting, sharing and promoting Samoan businesses and entrepreneurs here in Samoa, New Zealand and around the world,” Afamasaga said. Guest speaker at the event, Associate Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi, couldn’t have agreed more. During his presentation, Lealailepule encouraged both NZSTIC delegates and SBN members alike to work together and focus on developing Samoan businesses at all levels, and in particular, by supporting small to medium-scale, Samoan-owned operations with potential for growth. In his closing remarks, Frank Po Ching reiterated this, saying working collaboratively to build business opportunities is key in a market like Samoa. The opening prayer and blessing was delivered by Tofaeono Fonoti Dr Lafitai Fuatai, and the event was emceed by local businessman and SBN Samoa Executive Committee member, Etu Tuistala of E-Life Company. The SBN Samoa Executive Committee would like to thank event sponsors Te Namo Bar, Krush and The Wine Portfolio (one of the NZSTIC delegation companies), as well as ongoing SBN sponsors Tanoa Tusitala Hotel, Liquor Planet, Taula Beverages and Eveni Carruthers. For more information about SBN in Samoa, and how you could grow your business connections, contact info@samoabusinessnetwork.org, visit the Facebook page or website at www.samoabusinessnetwork.org, or call Afamasaga Jackie Curry at +685 751 1773, direct. SAMOA OBSERVER Aricle - http://www.samoaobserver.ws/en/12_06_2017/local/20988/Promoting-Samoan-businesses-and-entrepreneurship.htm
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Published by Samoa Observer 02 May 2017 The Samoa branch of the Auckland-established Samoa Business Network (S.B.N.) has taken the next step in growing the organisation’s foothold in the country, holding its first Annual General Meeting at Tanoa Tusitala Hotel on Thursday night.
Launched in November last year by the Prime Minister, this was the third event held by S.B.N. Samoa and combined the A.G.M. with a networking activity. “Our mission is to provide a platform for Samoan business people and entrepreneurs to connect and collaborate with like-minded people – not only here, but across New Zealand and the Pacific, and the rest of the world,” said newly-elected S.B.N. Samoa President, Afamasaga Jackie Curry. “There are about 500,000 Samoans living outside of Samoa. This means the potential to grow our network and promote Samoan businesses, and products and services, globally – by leveraging these connections here and abroad – is exponential.” Given the significant number of new businesses and young business people engaging in start-ups in Samoa at the moment, S.B.N. Samoa also used the A.G.M. as an opportunity to formalise a Youth Entrepreneurship Group, focused specifically on developing ideas and providing support for entrepreneurs aged under 30. This group will be led by S.B.N. Executive Youth Representative, Beatrice Ott, Manager of Vaitele’s newest café, Kofe Haus. “When I first started out, it was difficult finding connections to services and suppliers – having access to good advice, and people with industry experience, through a network like S.B.N. will make a huge difference for other young people starting out too,” said Beatrice. Following the A.G.M. the New Zealand High Commissioner, H.E. David Nicholson, addressed attendees, sharing some words on business development and opportunities in Samoa and the Pacific, before the networking element of the evening kicked off. An accomplished businessman himself, the High Commissioner encouraged members to work together, look at long-term sustainability and make the most of the opportunities that will roll out across the region in the future. The S.B.N. has varying membership packages available for businesses, not-for-profits, individual professionals, youth and students. The S.B.N. would like to thank and acknowledge the support of their sponsors for this event – Tanoa Tuistala Hotel, Taula Beverages, Liquor Planet and Eveni Samoa. Chairperson Afamasaga Jackie Curry (Spacific Marketing) Treasurer Clay Paul (H & H Holdings) Secretary Ashlene Paul (Goldstar Co. Ltd) Board Members Etu Tusitala (E-Life Company) & River Burich (Vaoala Vanilla) Youth Representative Beatrice Ott (Kofe Haus) For more information on the Samoa Business Network, please contact Afamasaga Jackie Curry on +685 766 7444 or email info@samoabusinessnework.org. You can also find them on Facebook or visit the website: www.samoabusinessnetwork.org SAMOA OBSERVER Article - http://www.samoaobserver.ws/en/02_05_2017/local/19541/Samoa-Business-Network-establishes-foothold.htm PRESS RELEASE Published by Samoa Planet 01 May 2017 Top photo L-R: Etu Tusitala (Board Member), Afamasaga Jackie Curry (Chairwoman/President), Beatrice Ott (Board Member/Youth Rep), David Nicholson (NZ High Commissioner), Ashlene Paul (Secretary), Clay Paul (Treasurer) & Moananu Tyrone Laurenson (MC/High Tech Youth Network - Country Manager), River Burich (Board Member - Absent) 1 May, 2017. Apia, Samoa – The Samoa branch of the Auckland-established Samoa Business Network (SBN) has taken the next step in growing the organisation’s foothold in the country, holding its first annual general meeting at Tanoa Tusitala Hotel on Thursday night.
Launched in November last year by the Prime Minister, this was the third event held by SBN Samoa and combined the AGM with a networking activity. “Our mission is to provide a platform for Samoan business people and entrepreneurs to connect and collaborate with like-minded people – not only here, but across New Zealand and the Pacific, and the rest of the world,” said newly elected SBN Samoa President, Afamasaga Jackie Curry. “There are about 500,000 Samoans living outside of Samoa. This means the potential to grow our network and promote Samoan businesses, and products and services, globally – by leveraging these connections here and abroad – is exponential.” Given the significant number of new businesses and young business people engaging in start-ups in Samoa at the moment, SBN Samoa also used the AGM as an opportunity to formalise a Youth Entrepreneurship Group, focused specifically on developing ideas and providing support for entrepreneurs aged under 30. This group will be led by SBN Executive Youth Representative, Beatrice Ott, Manager of Vaitele’s newest café, Kofe Haus. “When I first started out, it was difficult finding connections to services and suppliers – having access to good advice, and people with industry experience, through a network like SBN will make a huge difference for other young people starting out too,” said Beatrice. Following the AGM, New Zealand High Commissioner, David Nicholson, addressed attendees, sharing some words on business development and opportunities in Samoa and the Pacific, before the networking element of the evening kicked off. An accomplished businessman himself, the High Commissioner encouraged members to work together, look at long-term sustainability and make the most of the opportunities that will roll out across the region in the future. The SBN has varying membership packages available for businesses, not-for-profits, individual professionals, youth and students. The SBN would like to thank and acknowledge the support of their sponsors for this event – Tanoa Tuistala Hotel, Taula Beverages, Liquor Planet and Eveni Samoa. For more information on the Samoa Business Network, please contact Afamasaga Jackie Curry on +685 766 7444 or email info@samoabusinessnework.org. You can also find them on Facebook or visit the website: www.samoabusinessnetwork.org PRESS RELEASE Published by Iniini Samoa February 2, 2017 Doing business in a place like Samoa, it’s easy to assume everyone knows everyone. But the opportunities and ideas you come across when you get out of your usual circle of friends & business colleagues might surprise you. That’s the message of Afamagasa Jackie Curry, who is the representative for the Samoan branch of the Samoa Business Network (SBN).
After being launched by the Prime Minister in November, SBN Samoa had its first business networking event at Tanoa Tusitala Hotel on Wednesday night. It is the first international branch of the New Zealand-based organisation, which began as a forum for connecting Samoan business people in Auckland. While several businesses have already signed up as members, Wednesday’s event was open to all. “We want to give everyone the chance to connect with like-minded individuals and collaborate for business and professional success, whether they well-established or new businesses,” Afamasaga said. She said SBN Samoa had memberships available for businesses, not-for-profits, individual professionals and even students and youth. “One person who came along told me he’d never been to anything like this before, but he’s recently started offering niche tours, and I immediately said ‘oh, you should meet so-and-so, he’s serving a similar market, you could collaborate!” “I witnessed several connections like that being made over the evening. There are so many opportunities for business people here to share ideas and work together, but sometimes we just don’t know what others are doing.” One of the main goals of the Samoa Business Network’s international expansion is to connect Samoans living all over the world. After living in New Zealand for seven years, Afamasaga felt drawn back to Samoa last year and said a lot of others are in the same position. At some point in their professional careers, Samoans want to come home and “give back” to their country. “So many of our people gain qualifications, experience and connections overseas, and have a desire to use them to contribute towards Samoa’s development.” “SBN is particularly focussed on facilitating those links, tapping into the expertise of Samoans all over the world, connecting, sharing ideas and collaborating.” The keynote speaker at this first networking event was a New Zealand born Samoan who has also made the move home to lead an exciting new project funded by the NZ government. Moananu Tyrone Malaesaili Laurenson was born in Auckland, but his late father hailed from Lufilufi and Lepea, and is late mother was from Vaimoso. He spent 25 years in the New Zealand Police Force, where he was the first Samoan to attain the rank of Inspector. In the late 1990s he moved to Samoa where he took up the posting of Registrar at the National University of Samoa, before a stint working for AusAID and then two years as the Assistant Vice Chancellor at the Oceania University of Medicine. Moananu is now leading the recently-established High Tech Youth Network Project in Samoa, which will teach young people skills in graphic design, video production, animation and more. He showed attendees at the SBN event several videos which had been made by young participants in the program elsewhere in the Pacific, as well as a video which Samoan students made themselves, in which they gave the audience a tour through the new High Tech Youth studio. Moananu said he’s currently looking for people with relevant skills to work on or help out with the project. The SBN event was also attended by New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner Mike Walsh, who said facilitating international business connections was often a large part of a diplomat’s role, and he welcomed the establishment of SBN in Samoa. He is a member of the Kiwi Expats Association (KEA), which has networks of New Zealanders in cities all over the world. He recalled being part of one of these networks in Johannesburg, South Africa while he was working there, and he found the opportunity to network with other Kiwis invaluable. “Sign up now,” was his parting advice to the crowd. The SBN Executive Committee would like to thank and acknowledge support of the sponsors for this event – Tanoa Tusitala Hotel, Taula Beverages and Liquor Planet. For more information about Samoa Business Network, please contact Afamasaga Jackie Curry on 20984 or 7667444 or email info@samoabusinesnetwork.org. You can also find them on Facebook or visit their website http://www.samoabusinessnetwork.org/ Published by Samoa Observer 1 December 2016 More than sixty members of Samoa’s business community got together at Le Manumea Resort last Friday for the expansion of the Samoa Business Network (S.B.N) into Samoa, which was officially launched by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi. S.B.N was founded in 2012 for Samoan business people in New Zealand to meet, share ideas, collaborate and support one another. New Zealand Chairperson Laura Keil-Hall, daughter of the late Lutz Keil and the late Veronica Brown-Keil from Tuanaimato, said S.B.N was launching a Samoan branch to provide informal networking opportunities. “When I was a Business Manager at the Bank of New Zealand in Manukau in Auckland, I organised monthly networking events for our customers,” she said. “This concept of informal professional networking has become really popular overseas, as it gives people a chance to meet outside of the formal environment of meetings and day-to-day business relationships. “It allows people to get out of their normal circles, and for young entrepreneurs to meet and get advice from leaders in government and business.” Samoan branch representative Afamagasa Jackie Curry encouraged everyone at the launch to talk to at least one person they had never met before. “In Samoa we have this sense that we all know each other, but there are many Samoans who spend much of their careers overseas, are successful in business, and who have a desire to give something back to the country. S.B.N is all about facilitating those links.” Ms. Keil-Hall said back at the Bank of New Zealand, she noticed not many Samoans or Pacific Islanders attended the networking events. “I was part of the organizing committee for the launch of one of Lani Wendt-Young’s books, which was led on by businessman Rasmus Pereira, who started the online shopping website Shopsamoa.com. The event was sponsored by so many Samoan businesses, and I realised they were out there – Samoan entrepreneurs with big ideas – but they weren’t really coming to general networking events. So with Rasmus on board, B.N.Z hosted the first Business Networking event in Auckland, specifically for Samoan business people and professionals. “At first we had no intention of creating an organisation, but B.N.Z’s networking events were so popular, we eventually set up the Samoa Business Network as a not-for-profit in April 2013.” Prime Minister Tuilaepa expressed his support for the vision of the organisation. He also challenged Samoan businesses to make better use of the internet and technology to grow their businesses, as well as challenging S.B.N to do the same to expand the Network. Ms. Keil-Hall said S.B.N was setting up in Samoa to support all the good work done by other private sector organisations. “Organisations like the Chamber of Commerce and the Samoa Association of Manufacturers and Exporters do excellent work in the fields of business development, training, capacity development, advocacy and the like. “Where we feel we can contribute is in the informal networking space, so organising events that bring together like-minded people who want to connect, collaborate and support one another in business and professionally.” “We’re also very focused on helping people to develop their professional networks internationally, so we can be a point of contact for members who are travelling to New Zealand, for instance, and we can introduce them to our contacts in business and government over there.” S.B.N. has partnerships and strong ties with other organisations in New Zealand with a similar vision, such as the Bank of New Zealand, the N.Z. Samoa Trade and Investment Commission, Pacific Cooperation Foundation, Pacific Trade & Invest, Pacific Business Trust and the Ministry for Pacific Peoples. S.B.N. has special membership fees for Samoan based members. Businesses, not-for-profits or individual professionals interested in knowing more about membership can phone Afamasaga Jackie Curry 20984 or email info@samoabusinessnetwork.org Samoa Observer original article - https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/19852
Samoa Business Network (‘SBN’) will conclude its successful fundraising initiatives from the end of year networking events in 2014 with a formal handover of $2,000.00 ST each to the Samoa Cancer Society and Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG). The handover will be hosted by SBN member, Pacific EZY Money Transfer in Apia on Thursday 26th of February.
The fundraising auction was supported by SBN member businesses at the December 2014 networking events and included the auctioning off of items kindly donated by Kara’s Fashion House, The Works Hair Salon, Shop Samoa, MENA, Ulu Aiono, SkyCity Auckland, and Samoapages.com. The transfer of funds to the Samoa Cancer Society and the SVSG was facilitated by Pacific EZY Money Transfer and will be officially handed over by Pacific EZY Money Transfer’s Savalalo Office in Apia on Thursday 26th February at 12.30pm. SBN’s president, Laura Keil-Hall, sees the money raised as a way for SBN to give back to the Samoan community as the fledgling Association looks to consolidate its growth in 2015 and put down firm roots in Samoa: “Although we are very much business focused we know and understand the importance of also connecting and looking after our wider Samoan communities. It has always been our plan since the establishment of SBN almost 2 years ago that we give back to Samoa in any way we can and we hope to continue doing this every year”. The SBN calendar of events was officially launched on Tuesday 24 February 2015 with the first networking evening of the year.
Guest speaker, businessman and current Chair of the New Zealand-Samoa Trade and Investment Commission, Tauili’ili Fatu Fuatavai, captivated the audience with some sage advice and lessons from his own experiences in business. Tauili’ili, a qualified engineer by profession, recounted his extremely interesting history in business, from his start in doing “odd jobs” in building decks and house renovations for people in his church until he reached a point in his career when his private jobs earned him more money than his day job. Tauili’ili’s talked at length about residential and commercial property development and the lessons he drew from those experiences. He expanded on the steep risks involved in investment decisions and the amount of due diligence that is required. Tauili’ili especially drew on his experiences in taking calculated risks and identifying opportunities in the market. He illustrated this with a rollicking example from the early 1990s when he took advantage of changes in government housing policy and delved into residential property investment. Tauili’ili’s main points of advice were to never stop learning and always try to be nice to everyone, and always keep your mind active. Learning could even come from watching movies, as he explained that he learned a bit about mergers and acquisitions from watching the movies, Pretty Woman and Working Girls. This stood him in good stead for the second half of his career when he acquired several businesses and gradually sold them off over time for a profit. The current phase of Tauili’ili’s life, now involves him engaging in volunteer work. The work he does for NZSTIC comes with the aim of growing Samoa’s export earnings into New Zealand. A market where Samoa currently imports over $100 million from, yet only exports $3 million into. The night wrapped up with the introduction of the year’s events, including the upcoming workshops and networking evenings and breakfasts lined up for the year. If you met Laura Keil-Hall today, you'd never believe that not so many years ago she was too shy to do a communications paper at AUT because she would have to present to her classmates. Today, Laura is co-founder of the Samoa Business Network (SBN), she works with Auckland Regional Migrant Services, is a member of PACIFICA Manukau, a supporting member of Samoan Victim Support Group Auckland, and works with various other community organisations. She has recently secured a new role as a business acquisition manager at the Bank of New Zealand and, with her husband Walter, she is bringing up their two children aged 9 and 3. What drives her is a desire to improve the lives of Samoans in New Zealand. Laura says that one of the keys to her success is financial literacy. “When I arrived in New Zealand, I was 18, I didn’t know about hire purchase agreements, credit checks or guarantees. People asked me to take a loan out for them in my name. What saved me was that I didn’t have a credit rating.” It didn’t take Laura long to get to grips with financial matters. She worked part-time at Rainbow’s End and enrolled in a Certificate in Business at AUT. She would have finished it in one year had it not been for that communications paper, which she finally forced herself to complete after three attempts. Then, armed with her new qualification, she set about finding a job. It didn’t take long. She was interviewed for a job with the Home Ownership Trust and on the same day she was offered the position of office assistant. Within two years she was a mortgage manager. From there she went on to work at Fisher and Paykel Finance and then Instant Finance. “I saw many of our Pacific people come to finance companies for help, especially to take out loans – many times for what they said was fa’alavelave. I saw parents use their children once they turned 18 to take out loans. I saw family and friends bringing in family members, – not long after their arrival in New Zealand and who had only just found jobs – to take out loans or be guarantors for loans. All of this unfortunately still happens today,” Laura says. “My mom [the late Veronica Keil, née Brown] taught me about faith, hope and love, and I try to live my life by those three things. My dad [the late Lesa Lutz Keil] taught me about hard work, dedication and commitment to family and country. I have faith that doors will continue to open for me. I don’t just sit down, pray and hope that something will happen, I work hard, but I never feel that I’m walking alone,” Laura says. She has been with the BNZ for six years. “I was working for another bank and they wanted me to work in the city. With a young family, that was going to be too hard. What I really wanted was a job in Manukau, as it would be much closer to home. There was nothing, but when I checked a week later, the BNZ had a vacancy.” And it was with the BNZ that she found herself being challenged once more. “My manager, I hated him at the time,” she says laughing, “because part of my job with BNZ Connect involved organising and speaking at networking events. I had to stand up and talk and inspire people, and I dreaded doing it. But actually, in the end, I was grateful to my manager because fronting up like that helped to build my confidence.” Laura thinks it is too easy to clump all Pasifika peoples under the one umbrella. “We may have similarities, but we also have big cultural differences. I don’t believe labelling us ‘Pacific people’ and assuming we’re all the same brings the best out in us.” To that end, she teamed up with Rasmus Pereira and established the Samoa Business Network (SBN), which she currently chairs and which is now registered as a legal entity. The aim of the network is to bring together Samoan entrepreneurs and businesses to work together and support each other. The network meets most months, usually bringing together between 30 and 40 people to mix, mingle, and often to listen to a guest speaker. “And we’ve been supported by the BNZ since establishment, and in our September event the ANZ is sponsoring us.” Laura says the SBN has raised money for Samoa after cyclone Evan in 2013, made a substantial donation to Samoa Women in Business, launched Samoan author Lani Wendt-Young’s third book in the The Telesa Trilogy, The Bone Bearer, at the BNZ Manukau, and was involved in the launch of the Samoa Association of Manufacturers and Exporters ‘Buy Samoa Made’ initiative in November of 2013. Laura says it makes sense for banks to be supporting Pasifika events and to partner with settlement organisations. “People arrive in New Zealand and one of the first things they need is a bank account. I think banks overall could be more supportive of new migrants.” She is now working with Auckland Regional Migrant Services, which offers a wide range of services to new Aucklanders, including help and advice about finding employment, learning English, educational pathways, and navigating life in Auckland. But Laura says she still feels more could be done to prepare Pacific people for life in New Zealand. “A lot of people in a new environment are too proud or too shy to ask for help – I was like that once, too scared to ask a bus driver where the bus was going – but when we get the right people and the relevant services together, life works a lot better for everybody. I want to see more Samoans running successful businesses and to see more Samoans financially secure – and I’m working to help make sure that happens.” ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Migrant stories - https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/resources/skilled-and-helping-others-to-upskill
PRESS RELEASE The Samoa Business Network (‘SBN’), in collaboration with the Pacific Business Trust (‘PBT’), is excited to host the final SBN networking event for the year. The keynote speaker for the night is the legendary trailblazer in business and COGITA founder, Ulu Aiono. The event will also mark the conclusion of the SBN fundraising auctions for the Samoa Cancer Society and Samoa Victim Support Group that have been running on Trademe since the October Networking event.
Keynote Speaker: Uluomatootua Saulaulu Aiono, BSc, MBA, ONZM Born in Apia, Ulu’s parents moved the family to New Zealand in 1960. Eventually Ulu matriculated from Auckland Grammar School to Otago University, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Ulu later returned to Otago University and in 1986 became the first Pacific Islander to complete a postgraduate MBA degree at the University. In 1983, Ulu became the first Samoan to start a high technology company in New Zealand when he founded COGITA. Such was its success; the company quickly grew into an international high technology ERP (enterprise resource planning) Software Company. In June 2012, Ulu and his wife, Margaret, sold COGITA’s international assets, contracts and offices to Epicor, a giant Silicon Valley software company. For services to business, Ulu was honoured and made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2012 New Year’s Honour’s list. In May 2014, ViAGO, one of the companies under the COGITA Group, developed the critical thinking methods and other intangible assets which are the core intellectual property in a one billion dollar technology IPO on the Australian Stock Exchange. Ulu was also appointed by the Minister of Broadcasting to chair the National Pacific Radio Trust, which operates the Pacific Media Network, Radio 531pi, Radio NiuFM and Pacific Radio News. He is also the chair of the Audit and Finance Committee at Habitat for Humanity Greater Auckland; and the incoming chair of the Alliance Health Plus PHO. In his spare time, Ulu is a co-opted member of the Otahuhu College Board of Trustees; member of the Salvation Army Church; and recently appointed by the Minister for Pacific Island Affairs to the board of the PBT. Ulu’s main role is in helping companies by fixing their critical thinking, sales, cash flow and systems. Link to Ulu Aiono interview with Tagata Pasifika Auction Fundraiser for the Samoa Cancer Society and Samoa Victims Support Group SBN’s fundraising for the Samoa Cancer Society and Samoa Victims Support Group comes to a conclusion with the auction winners being presented with their prizes on the night. Other items kindly donated will also be auctioned off for the charity fundraiser on the night. The fundraisers have been running on Trademe since SBN’s October Networking Event. SBN is indebted to our kind sponsors who have generously donated prizes for the auction. SBN thanks Kara’s Fashion House, The Works Hair Salon, Mena, WE Accounting and Shopsamoa.com. Those wishing to contribute further products to the auction or make financial donation into SBN Inc account may do so through the official SBN Inc account number: 02- 0191-0352390-001 SPECIFICS: Date: Tuesday 9th December 2014 Time: 6.00pm – 9.00pm (doors open at 5.30pm) Venue: Pacific Business Trust, 733 Great South Road, Otahuhu Dress Code: Smart Casual Entry: $20.00 per person, including SBN members. All proceeds will go towards the Samoa Cancer Society & Samoa Victim Support Group. The Samoa Business Network’s October 2014 Networking Evening kicked off with a flare of pink, as the society used the opportunity to join the international movement in raising greater awareness about Breast Cancer and celebrating women in leadership.
Co-hosted by Works Hair Salon and WE Accounting and Business Services Limited at the Works Hair Salon in Grey Lynn, over 30 guests and members of the network gathered to listen to the guest speaker for the evening, Sina Wendt-Moore the Chief Executive of Leadership New Zealand. In her work as Chief Executive, Sina’s main focus is on enriching the leadership culture of New Zealand, by connecting senior leaders through conversation, helping them learn how to lead and work across diversity, to innovate, collaborate and make a difference for New Zealand. Sina spent much of her talk placing great emphasis on the need to celebrating diversity in our communities and also within our businesses; a diversity of personalities, thinking, and ways of doing or performing leadership. Sina commented on the need for Pacific communities to rethink their understandings of leadership, and that a shift from more traditional western, authoritative, monocultural and masculine forms of leadership must give way to new understandings of leadership which are much more complex, dynamic and feminine and are able to respond to the diverse needs to today’s societies. Sina also advanced the principle of intergenerational solidarity, and that forward thinking leadership in NZ must prioritise on incorporating the values, ideas and creativity of our younger generations. The Samoa Business Network Executive Committee would like to thank and acknowledge the following members for their support and sponsorship of the event: The Works Hair Salon WE Accounting &U Business Services Ltd Samoapages.com ShopSamoa.com *N.B The next Samoa Business Networking Evening will take place on Tuesday 9th December, 2014 from 5.30pm – 9.30pm hosted by the Pacific Business Trust in Otahuhu |
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