 | ||
The Kate Sheppard Memorial Trust Award is an award made annually on September 19, known as Suffrage Day, in New Zealand. This day is the anniversary of women winning the right to vote in New Zealand in 1893.
The award commemorates the life of a leading New Zealand women's suffrage campaigner, Kate Sheppard, and was established by a group of women from Christchurch who had also commissioned the Kate Sheppard National Memorial. Its aim is to assist a woman to develop her potential through study, research or training in an area of value to the community. Although the award is open to any woman, it has been noted that the large majority of applications come from university and polytechnic institute students.
The selection panel is made up of representatives of Christchurch City Council, National Council of Women, NZ Council of Trade Unions, Rural Women of New Zealand and YWCA.
Recipients
The 2015 recipient was Dr Rashi Karunasinghe, a 27-year-old PhD graduate of the University of Auckland, who conducted research into stroke-related brain injuries.
No award was made in 2014. The 2013 recipient was Sylvia Nissen, a 23-year-old PhD student at the University of Canterbury, conducting research into the shaping of young people's political expression.
The 2012 recipient was Helen Tsui, a clinical psychology student at the University of Otago, who was studying diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's disease.
In 2009, the award was presented to Ngāti Kurī woman Bethany Edmunds, who was studying costume studies at New York University.