WelCom April 2024
Two archdiocesan parishioners have been nominated as finalists in The Post 2023 Wellingtonian of the Year Awards.
Jane Kelly of Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish and project architect for the Cathedral restoration programme is a finalist in the Heritage category, and Academic Dr Cherie Chu-Fuluifaga of Our Lady of Kāpiti Parish is a finalist in the Education category of the 2023 Wellingtonian of the Year Awards.
The Wellingtonian of the Year Awards – also known as ‘The Wellys’ – were started in 1989 to celebrate achievements and contributions across all sectors of the greater Wellington community, awarding those who make the Wellington region ‘an exciting and vibrant place’.
The awards night, Wednesday 27 March 2024, celebrates these people across 10 categories, with one overall Welly Recipient recognised as the supreme winner – The Post 2023 Wellingtonian of the Year.
The 10 categories are Arts, Business, Community, Service, Education, Environment, Heritage, Public Service, Science and Technology, Sport, Youth.
Public nominations opened last December and closed in January. The 2023 finalists were announced on 26 February in The Post.
The 2023 Welly Awards Night will be held on Wednesday 27 March, 2024, at The Embassy Theatre, Kent Terrace.
We wish Cherie and Jane every success.
Jane Kelly is Chair and Principal of TEAM Architects New Zealand, a group of nine independent architect companies. She has led the restoration of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Wellington, expected to reopen in June 2024.
Jane received a nomination for the Heritage category for individuals who have shown a commitment and dedication to the conservation, preservation and protection of heritage places and stories so that others can appreciate them today and in the future.
Jane has been a Sacred Heart parishioner for over 20 years, and this has helped her through the long process of over five years in her professional role as project architect for the Cathedral restoration project.
Jane’s speciality is in the restoration of heritage housing.
Dr Cherie Maria Chu-Fuluifaga is a distinguished academic who, at Victoria University of Wellington, developed the Pacific education leadership cluster that has grown from five students in 2005 to more than 200 students.
Dr Cherie, who was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to education earlier this year, works hard to create space for people who are often invisible in the education system.
She is a renowned Māori and Pasifika Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington and is well known among the Academic Education Tertiary faculty throughout universities in Aotearoa and overseas. Dr Cherie is a founder and mentor for leadership Pacific. She has written many publications and designed cultural training and research projects with Ministry of Education, AKO Aotearoa, TEC, and Tertiary institutes with Pasifika cultural connections. For over 20 years, Dr Cherie has provided leadership training to Pasifika students and various communities at Victoria University of Wellington, designing cultural training and education programmes for a wide range of professions including judges, lawyers, doctors, educators, youth workers, academics, and students.
Dr Cherie is on the Te Kupenga Academic Advisory Board and Pasifika Advisory Team.