Reflecting last year’s award, Lale Ieremia, PCM Consulting, who accepted the Award on Rachel’s behalf on the night reflected a little about Rachel in his speech, using CELF’s acronym as a guide when speaking to Rachel, her leadership, achievements, and contribution.

C = Courage – walk into the challenge that was working with her own business and her own community. To take over from her mother and to lead a Pacific community that was cautious about someone walking in the shadow of her mother. That courage of leadership was fundamental to achieving the results she has had to date.

E = Elevate – to take others and lift them ahead of you.  This means a lack of consciousness at times to recognise you are there to help others ahead of you, behind you and around you.

L = Love – the love in all that Rachel does and all that Rachel wants to be is what drives her.  The love of her family, the love of her people that Rachel commits to and the love of the work she must do.

F:  Fear.  If you don’t know what the bottom the and the top looks like, you very rarely get to challenge yourself in those leadership roles. And to know that fear is fundamental to be able to become a good leader, to always lead from the front the back and the side as part and parcel of what we are made up of.

 And this was related to a Samoan saying that many have grown up with.

 'o le ala i le pule o le tautua' 

“The essence in the heart to any leadership is service”

Lale acknowledged all leaders and nominees in the room who have made and continue to make contribution to community and business in the Waikato extends warming from all communities especially to those aspiring.