The Helen Clark Foundation is delighted to welcome outgoing Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate as our newest Honorary Senior Fellow from 1 November.

The Foundation’s Honorary Fellows Programme brings together highly respected policy thinkers across a range of disciplines to engage on some of the key long-term issues facing New Zealand. Our Honorary Fellows write regular opinion pieces and convene webinars in their areas of expertise, using the Foundation as a platform to contribute to the national conversation on issues that matter to our members and New Zealand. Paula will be writing on the issues faced by local government and potential solutions, drawing on her extensive first-hand experience.

Paula joins our existing Honorary Senior Fellows Dr Jonathan Boston, Lucy Cassels and Stephen Jacobi, and we expect to add more voices to this group of experienced and values-driven thought leaders over time.

Paula has served in local government for more than two decades, providing leadership at both regional and city levels.

Following postgraduate studies at the University of Waikato, Paula began her career in counselling and teaching before being elected to the Waikato Regional Council in 2001. Over the next 24 years, she held a range of senior governance roles, including Chair of the Environment Committee and Chair of the Policy and Strategy Committee. As a trained Ministry for the Environment Commissioner, she chaired numerous plan changes and resource consent hearings. In 2013, she was elected Chair of the Waikato Regional Council.

In 2016, Paula was elected Mayor of Hamilton. During her mayoralty, she held several national leadership positions, including Chair of the Upper North Island Strategic Alliance (UNISA), Chair of the Metro Sector, and membership of the National Council of Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ). She was also appointed to several government and LGNZ advisory groups, contributing to policy development on transport, the Resource Management Act, visitor levies, and local government reform.

Paula’s career has been distinguished by her focus on collaborative governance, strategic leadership, community engagement and communication skills. Paula enjoys thinking about the tough issues in local government and working with others to find solutions.

You can engage with op-eds and webinars produced by our Honorary Fellows here:

You can find more details of our Honorary Fellows programme here.

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