Hutt Valley Women’s Refuge — Board members (volunteer roles)
Supporting and empowering an awesome team
Helping women and whānau stay safe and thrive
Eliminating family violence in our community
We want new perspective, knowledge and/or skills in our Board team.
About the organisation:
Hutt Valley Women’s Refuge exists to drive solutions to the devastating problem of family violence in
our community. Our vision is that all women, children and whānau in the Hutt Valley live free from
family violence. We offer crisis support, safe houses, advocacy, education programmes, and more.
We are a small team with big ambition. We work in parallel with our Māori sister refuge in Te
Awakairangi, and as part of the National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges.
About the role:
The purpose of our Board is to provide good governance of Hutt Valley Women’s Refuge — to advise,
guide, oversee, and assist with the leadership and general promotion of Hutt Valley Women’s Refuge
to support the organisation’s mission and needs.
The main responsibilities of the Board are:
Direction — Develop the purpose, goals, strategy. Help define the desired culture, set the
tone.
Sustainability — Ensure we are viable and here for the long term.
Enablement — Support and enable the Refuge Lead to deliver the strategy, achieve the
goals, and work in line with the purpose.
Oversight — Monitor delivery, risk, compliance and progress.
Members of the board share these responsibilities while acting in the interest of Hutt Valley Women’s
Refuge. Each member is expected to contribute to our discussions based on his, her or their
experience and vantage point in the community.
Commitments involve a 2-3 hour meeting every six weeks, and some communication, reading and
doing in between. Assuming 2-3 hours per week on average is a good estimate.
Who we’re looking for:
We are looking for three people to join our Board.
The following are essential:
A drive to eliminate family violence.
A passion for supporting women and children experiencing and rebuilding from family
violence.
A connection to, and/or understanding of, the Hutt Valley.
Shared core values that underpin our work — self-determination, feminism, collectivism,
respect.
We value all skills and knowledge related to family violence, delivery of social services, and good
governance. Current board members bring strength in strategy, leadership, finance, social service
provision, and government policy. We welcome similar or different strengths. Current board members
have similar cultural backgrounds and are keen to add new perspective through different lived
experiences.
We have important responsibilities, so need certain skills. But some board members might be
appointed without the necessary skills for important reasons, such as bringing certain experience or
knowledge. We might also create a pathway to a full board role. Don’t let inexperience hold you back
from applying if you are committed to our kaupapa and building your governance skills.
This is a volunteer role. We want to pay for this important work, but can’t yet. We try to provide skill-
building opportunities as part of our koha.
How to apply:
We don’t mind how you tell us about yourself — voice recording, video, written notes are all okay. We
don’t need a full CV, but you’re welcome to send one.
We want to know:
A little about your lived experience — eg upbringing, culture, work/community experience,
how you spend your time — and how that might be useful to this role.
The lenses you can bring to the Board team — eg areas of special knowledge or particular
perspective — and how you got them.
The skills you can bring to the Board team, and what they enable.
Why you’re interested in this role.
Email your application to emma@huttwomen.org.nz. We will want to have two or three conversations
before selecting board members. We will also need to run other checks to ensure your and our safety,
eg a police check. Nothing in your past will automatically rule you out. We need to assess and
manage risks together.
Applications close Friday 24th March.