KATE SHEPPARD MEMORIAL TRUST ADVISORY COMMITTEE
PRESS RELEASE
Embargoed until September 17th 9.00 pm
Kate Sheppard Memorial Trust Announces Successful Applicant at National Council of Women’s Suffrage Celebration
“Women’s Suffrage is an important time to remember in New Zealand’s history. We have the unique privilege of being the
first country that gave women the vote, thanks to Kate Sheppard and her friends who fought so hard for the right of New
Zealand women to vote” said Karena Brown, Chairperson of the Kate Sheppard Memorial Trust.
“That is why the Trust chose to announce the successful recipient of the 2013 Kate Sheppard Memorial Trust Award the
National Council of Women’s Suffrage Celebrations in Christchurch, the home city of Kate Sheppard. This year’s recipient
is Sylvia Nissen, a 23 year old PhD student at the University of Canterbury”
“Sylvia is an impressive young woman who completed her Bachelor of Arts with Honours before attending Monash University
to complete her Masters degree. It was a huge decision to come back to the University of Canterbury to undertake her PhD
and we are very pleased that she did make that choice. New Zealand needs such high calibre graduates completing their
study here, especially when the field of study is such a topical one.”
“Young people have long been associated with social change and Sylvia intended to investigate the ways in which young
people’s political agency and citizenship is expressed and shaped in high consumption societies, including New Zealand.
She will be working in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme and will using focus groups and
interviews to collect her data. Her research will focus on young New Zealanders between the ages of 18 to 24 who are
attending university.”
“The Trust is very pleased to be able to continue to assist talented women achieve their dreams. Given the
disenfranchisement of young people around the world, the research being undertaken by this year’s recipient will be very
important not only to New Zealand but to overseas as well. We are sure that Kate Sheppard would be proud to lend her
name to such a worthwhile area of study.”
Ends