PRINZ Executive Committee Chair’s 2025 Wrap Up
Tēnā koutou katoa,
I te tūramatanga ō ngā puanga ō pōhutukawa i te rangi ki te rāhiri ō te rā, ka tohua te wā kia
hoki whakamuri, kia anga whakamua. Ka mutu, e mihi ana ki ā tātou tautoko i a PRINZ i tēnei tau. Nāna nei te timatanga ō tēnei pānui. Meri Kirihimete ki a tātou ko te whānau.
As pōhutukawa blossoms light up the sky to herald the start of the summer season it’s a good time to reflect on what has been, as well as what is to come. The opening of this pānui also acknowledges all of you for your support of PRINZ this year and I wish you and your whānau a very merry Christmas and restful summer break.
I know for many of us 2025 did not turn out to be the year to thrive, whether that’s been through economic pressures impacting home and work or the many other things life can throw at us. For me it’s been my health with a breast cancer diagnosis in July. I’m just coming to the end of four months of chemotherapy – a journey in resilience I really didn’t wish to take.
Being part of PRINZ and having the privilege to be Chair has been a constant light for me through this time. I’d like to thank my fellow Committee members Jacquie Boer, Eruini Paranihi, Celia Crosbie and Travis Logan alongside the PRINZ crew of Susanne Martin, Bethany Cook and Violet Zhang for their support during this time.
Reflecting on 2025
But this isn’t about me – I promise! Reflecting back on the year, our members packed a lot in! A real highpoint was the PRINZ Awards in May. With 50 finalists there was plenty of inspiring work on display. Judging the Awards is no mean feat so a huge thank you to all our judges.
Advocacy was a strong theme for the year with PRINZ making both a written and oral submission to Parliament to oppose the Plain Language Act Repeal Bill. As at writing the Bill is awaiting its second reading in the House. We also reiterated our perspective on lobbying, a topic that generates heated debate from all sides.
This was also a year for things coming in pairs, with two outstanding PR professionals taking home the Joseph Peart Award for the highest achievement in the Accreditation in Public Relations programme. Congratulations again Kate Barlow and Robin Raymond. Congratulations are also due to the most recent APR graduates who will be honoured at the 2026 PRINZ Awards. A huge thank you to Suzy Giles and Deepti Bhargava for running APR and our members who sit on the Viva Voce panels.
There were also double celebrations for the 2025 PRINZ Waikato Matariki Scholarships which saw Paea Begman and Olivia Pitroi-Gowling both receiving a one year PRINZ membership, mentoring and access to other networking opportunities. Thank you to everyone who makes this very special scholarship possible.
Our continuous professional development CPD courses and webinars resonated with our members as the numbers of courses and attendees continued to grow. The CPD sub-committee are working hard to expend our offering even further in 2026.
Finally, we ended this year on a real high with the 2025 PRINZ Communicator of the year, an award voted for by our members. Mark Knoff-Thomas was the very worthy recipient alongside a list of high calibre finalists..
Looking ahead to 2026
2026 will be a year where ethical communicating is more important than ever. As we head into a general election where artificial intelligence will play the biggest role yet in campaigning there are already allegations swirling around dark art tactics. We will be prioritising refreshing the PRINZ Code of Ethics to reflect the use of AI.
The Committee will also be taking a look at updating APR alongside strengthening PRINZ relationships with academic institutions to support the next generation of PR professionals.
You can also expect to see Communicator of the Year again, so keep tabs on potential nominees. And of course, we’ll have the 52nd PRINZ Awards with entries opening in the New Year – potentially the beach is a good spot to start drafting yours!
Mā whero, mā pango ka oti ai te mahi
With red and black the work will be complete
This whakataukī speaks to the need to work together. It’s only through our collective effort will we achieve – and that’s certainly true for PRINZ. PRINZ is nothing without its members, so a huge mihi to everyone who has seen the value in continuing their membership throughout 2025.
As we head into 2026 it’s heartening to see 92% of members say they would recommend PRINZ to other PR/Communication professionals, that’s up from 72% in 2022. Please do put the word out, and if you need a hand convincing your employer here’s some handy pointers: Why your employer should support your PRINZ membership
Lastly a massive mihi to all our volunteers. In whatever role you have played you’ve made a difference. We see the work you do and acknowledge the many hours, emails, phone calls and kōrero that go into the events, sub-committees and education opportunities. Thank you.
Ngā tauwhirotanga o te wā,
Morwenna
Chair, PRINZ Executive Committee
