IWNZ Conference 2023

Inner Wheel New Zealand and District NZ294 were delighted to welcome you all to Wellington for the IWNZ Conference on 4th - 7th May 2023.

All were "blown away" with the weekend of Inner Wheel inspiration, fellowship and adventures as everyone indulged in the sights and sounds of New Zealand's Capital City, Wellington. 

Ordering Photos

All photos taken by our official Conference Photographer, Simon Woolf, can be viewed and purchased through his website here.

Printed copy of a photo - $20

Digital copy of a photo - $35

ZENAIDA Y. FARCON, or Zeny, as she is fondly called, is a dedicated and committed Servant Leader of the Inner Wheel. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by profession and has made great use of these skills within IW.

At the very young age of 28, she joined the Inner Wheel Club of Marikina in the Philippines in 1988. Since then, she has served the IW Clubs of the Philipines, Inc. (IWCPI) at the Club, District, National and International levels. Notably, after serving as Deputy National Representative, First Vice President, and Internal Auditor, she served as the National Representative in 2003-2004. She has also been quite involved in the Annual National Conferences, culminating in serving as the Overall Chairman of the 2001 National Conference. 

Zeny is celebrating her 35 years of friendship and service in Inner Wheel.  She was elected as an IIW Board Director twice (2019-2020, 2020-2021) and served as IIW Vice President in 2021-2022.  This year, Zeny is serving as the International President on the 99th year of the founding of Inner Wheel, the organization she loves most.

Read Zeny's full profile

Pinky was born and raised in Port Chalmers, Otago.  In her years since leaving school, she has carved out a joyously varied career, enjoying working as a clerical worker, union organiser and educator, singing telegram girl, and self-employed actor, writer, and as a wedding and funeral celebrant.

From the late 1990s through to the early 2000s,she starred as Jenny Shipley in television’s McPhail & Gadsby.   Lorae Parry also starred as Helen Clark, and together they created a stage show with our characters – Leading Ladies – which toured extensively for several years.

She has both written and starred in plays, including her one-woman show Pinky Pops In, as well as Grumpy Old Women and Party Girls.  With Lorae Parry, she co-wrote Circa Theatre hits The Truth About Love, The Candidates, Sex Drive, and the sell-out political comedies Destination Beehive  2014 and 2017, as well as 2017’s pantomime Peter Pan. 

Over the years she has been a core member of the women’s comedy group Hens’ Teeth.

She is a stalwart of RNZ National with Te Radar and Kathryn Ryan. 

A very busy wedding and funeral  celebrant since 1996, she has also published two collections of readings for ceremonies – Heartsongs and Lifesongs (Random House), with her next book, This is Farewell, about to be published.  She has also self-published a collection of her own comic poems, Pinky’s Poems. 

In 2004 Pinky was invested as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to entertainment.  

Elisha Watson

Elisha is a litigation lawyer turned underwear entrepreneur. In 2017, she founded Nisa, an ethical underwear, swimwear and activewear label employing former refugees and migrants in their Wellington workshop.

The idea for Nisa came to Elisha when she was volunteering with the Community Law Centre and Red Cross in the refugee resettlement space.  She shared a love of sewing with many of the women in the refugee community, and the idea of setting up a clothing business to provide employment opportunities took form. 

Elisha quit her job as a lawyer to get Nisa off the ground, and 5 years later is now the CEO of a bustling and lively company that makes organic cotton underwear and bras, and eco-friendly activewear and swimwear. She has a diverse and talented team of 16 women from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Myanmar, New Zealand, Somalia and Sri Lanka at her side.

Nisa is an underwear label and social enterprise, employing women from refugee and migrant backgrounds in their Wellington workshop. For the Nisa team, a job is about so much more than a pay cheque - it's about making friends, practising English and feeling like a valued member of a team.

Nisa was founded in 2017, and started out making organic cotton women's briefs. Their range has grown to include men's briefs, bralettes, swimwear and activewear. They have a cult following, and have shipped out over 30,000 garments to customers all over the world through their online store www.nisa.co.nz

Elisha and her work with Nisa are in line with NZ294's District Project 2022/23, supporting Refugees.

Elizabeth (Liz) Sneyd is the founding director of the Virtuoso Strings Charitable Trust.

Liz led the University of Wisconsin orchestra and was a 1st violinist in the Madison Symphony orchestra, while she studied for her Ph.D in Mathematics with a Minor in Music. Upon her return to New Zealand, Liz met her husband Craig while they were both playing in the Wellington Orchestra. In 2013 they set up the Virtuoso Strings children's Orchestra based in Porirua , providing free classical tuition for students at low-decile schools. The charity currently provides free tuition to between 100 and 150 violin, viola and cello students in two orchestras - children from diverse cultures who might otherwise miss out. Over the past ten years, many of the students have achieved outstanding results in Trinity College London music exams and national chamber music competitions.

Liz has many honours and awards including Community Category winner of the 2015 Wellingtonian of the Year, 2018 inaugural winner of New Zealand Music Teacher of the Year, and a Queens Service Medal (QSM) for services to music education.

You will be 'Blown Away' by these talented young musicians.

Conference Charity