The Emerging Leader of the Year Award recognises an emerging local government leader, aged 35 or under, who has a proven track record of designing or delivering innovative and successful programmes, projects, processes, or practices with an identifiable community impact.


The Emerging Leader of the Year Award is offered as an important aspect of the Taituarā strategy to support increased leadership capability in the sector. The Emerging Leader of the Year Award is part of the Taituarā LGLeadership Pathways initiative which includes a range of programmes and activities that provide staff across the sector with outstanding leadership development opportunities.

2023 Emerging Leader of the Year Award

Lauren Baddock of Horowhenua District Council was announced as the 2023 Emerging Leader of the Year during our annual Gala Dinner in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington on 8 June 2023.

Previous winners

The recipients of the 2022 AskYourTeam Emerging Leader of the Year Award are Natasha Stubbing and Shyamal Ram. They travelled to Columbus/Franklin County, United States, to attend the 2022 ICMA Conference.

The winner of the 2021 Award was Central Hawke’s Bay Council’s Darren de Klerk.