Advocate
Catherine Taylor has served Diabetes NZ as a Board member for eight years. She shares some highlights achieved during her time with us.
‘If something needs to get done, I’ll push for it’
W
hen Catherine Taylor first got involved with Diabetes NZ (DNZ), she recounts that some people believed DNZ was irrelevant. ‘Why would you want to be involved with that organisation? It does nothing for people with diabetes,’ they’d tell her. ‘But it was true. It was at the stage where it had no purpose, had no sense of direction, and didn’t know where it was heading,’ says Catherine. ‘So I thought that was the best challenge a mother could ever get.’ Catherine’s daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1982 when she was only 14 months old, and Catherine
acknowledges the significant support she received at the time. ‘It was a big shock to me personally because diabetes was not in my family, although it was in my husband's family. The hours that I spent talking to people about what this might mean and how I might approach supporting my daughter through her diabetes journey proved important. That's really why I got involved in the first place.’ Having been on the diabetes journey herself, Catherine says she understands the need for DNZ to focus on supporting people at time of diagnosis. ‘Supporting them to understand that it is a long-term condition that can be managed, recognising that at times
management of diabetes can be very challenging and demanding. People can manage it themselves with appropriate support.’ ‘A GROWING ORGANISATION WITH A BROAD MANDATE’
Catherine’s focus during her time as a Trustee (and before that as an Independent Director) has been on ensuring DNZ has the right tools and the right people to enable it to grow and develop. In Catherine’s time, DNZ has moved from an Incorporated Society to a Charitable Trust, with a skillsbased Board of Trustees supporting the growth and development of the organisation. ‘So whilst it might sound deadly dull and boring, unless you have
‘My vision has always been that we needed to raise our profile. We are now regarded as the diabetes consumer organisation that government and other central agencies like Pharmac go to.’
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DIABETES WELLNESS | Summer 2024
