Meet Fiona Cameron from Creative Coromandel, one of our new participants on the New Zealand Certificate in Business – First Line Management course. 

WHERE ARE YOU FROM? 

I grew up in the Hauraki Gulf, on Motutapu Island my parents were teachers there, and I moved to Coromandel Town when I was three years old. 

WHAT IS YOUR ROLE AND WHERE? 

I am Chair of He Mana Toi Moehau Trust  | Creative  Coromandel, we are the arts advisory organisation for Thames-Coromandel District Council and advocate for our creative communities around the Coromandel and Hauraki rohe. We are an independent charitable trust made up of visual artists, performing artists, arts leaders, and arts champions from around the region. 

WHAT I ENJOY? 

I am passionate about the arts and enjoy anything that connects to creativity. I believe we should celebrate, and protect the important role that arts, culture and heritage play within our communities. Often in these spaces, you find the heartbeat of a community and its people. I also like to walk my blue heeler dog, swim with my two girls, be on beaches,  watch movies, listen to music and podcasts, talk politics, drink good coffee and wine and spend time with my family. 

WHY YOU JOINED THE WILSS COURSE? 

I have been a business owner for 25 years, a year ago I closed my art gallery, Bounty Store in Thames after a very tough few years navigating the Pandemic and then Cyclone Gabriel and the closure of State Highway 25A in the Coromandel, it was time for a pause and reset of my career. I was already the new chair of Creative Coromandel and was enjoying this new leadership role for the arts in our region, I could use my years of arts management experience to help in the recovery of our region and working in a governance role for our communities became my focus. I saw this WILSS business course advertised on the Community Waikato website and it seemed to be perfect timing for my new direction in community governance and time for some professional upskilling for myself.