This term the Board of Trustees co-opted a permanent Tangata Whenua seat to their Board. Michelle Lavender, appointed by our local Iwi as their representative, introduces herself below to the Marlborough Girls' College community.

Tēnā koutou katoa
Ko ahau te uri o etahi waka, Tokomaru, Tainui, Ngātokimatawhaorua hoki.
No Taranaki ahau, engari i tipu ake ahau ki Kawerau.
Ko Michelle Lavender tōku ingoa.
Ko Daryl Lavender tōku hoa tāne.
Tokowhā āku tamariki. Ko Rosalie, rātou ko Aidan, ko Joel, ko Breanah.
Tokorua āku mokopuna. Ko Zarnie rāua ko Evanee.
Tēna koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

Hi. I’m Michelle Lavender. I descend from several waka with affiliations to several iwi, mainly with Waikato-Tainui, Te Ātiawa and Ngāpuhi connections and I grew up in Kawerau in the beautiful Bay of Plenty. We moved to Blenheim about 18 years ago with three of our four children. 

Our eldest daughter lives in Taranaki with our two granddaughters who are now both at school. I have had an interest in education for many years and spent quite some time in early childhood education before moving to my current role as Operations Manager for Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rārua. 

I am mostly based in Wairau but work across Te Tauihu so spend a couple of days in Nelson each week. I have enjoyed working with many of the board and staff of MGC in Te Tātoru o Wairau so am pleased to add to that as a co-opted trustee to share a Māori worldview that informs and influences outcomes for MGC students.

Meet our Board of Trustees for 2022