Cassie McTavish - Massey.

Tēnā koutou

My name is Cassie McTavish, I am a pākehā woman from a small rural area of the Manawatū where I raise my daughter and work as Senior Tutor in the practicing of active citizenship. I am seeking your support in my goal of becoming the Academic Representative on the National Women’s Committee because I know what it is like to be precarious for a long period of time, to work and study, to raise a child, to fail at juggling it all while holding a smile and to be forgotten in these large structures while not gaining pay equity as a woman.

Having stepped up to the role of Women’s Representative for our Massey Branch I have been delighted and empowered by the experience of our collective strength and determination as women wahine of TEU. While on our branch I organised events, was active in striking and bargaining, attended local and national hui and let no opportunity go to waste when it came to speaking up for women wahine in higher education settings.

I also have an academic interest in women’s lives, I wrote a thesis on rural women’s use of farm machinery to explore how the embodiment of rural gendered identities helps them to navigate the patriarchal spaces of farming, and to make this labour space anew for themselves on their own terms. Beyond this I am surrounded by brilliant, kind, and driven women wahine every day and my focus is to not just know things, but to also do things and make things move in the directions we have collectively decided they should go.

If elected I will continue to listen first, be guided by our te tiriti lead co governance kaupapa and fight for every woman wahine in TEU. From the value of our labour through to the conditions we experience in higher education settings to knowing just how awesome we are, I am committed to the women wahine of TEU regardless of whether you vote for me today or not and I humbly seek your support.

Kia ora rawa atu