Ashley wins excellence award

Ashley wins excellence award

Ashley Huria went straight from Horowhenua College to the local council – 15 years later she’s won a prestigious local government award.

She won the Sheffield Emerging Leader of the Year Award last week at the 2025 Taituarā Local Government Excellence Awards. Taituara represents professionals working in local government. The award is presented to “an up-and-coming leader with a proven track record of designing and delivering innovative and successful programmes, projects, processes, or practices with an identifiable community impact”.

Ashley, who is Horowhenua District Council’s business performance manager, gets to travel to the United States to attend the 2025 American local government conference in Tampa, Florida.

Her current role is a big step up from her first job at the council when she was 17.

She became an administration assistant after finishing year 13 at college, where she was a prefect, receiving the Innovation and Business Women Award at the end of that year and signing a contract with the council while still in school.

“I had planned to enrol into Police College, but never quite got there,” Ashley told the Star. “Instead I loved local government and chose to stay.”

Community is clearly at the heart of not only her work, but also her “leisure” time. She’s on the board at Fairfield School and is a volunteer firefighter for Horowhenua Volunteer Rural Brigade.

It’s a similar motivation that has kept her at the council, despite the challenges of sometimes vitriolic criticism.

“For me, it’s all about serving the community, the opportunities I’ve received within this council and the ability to grow a career while upskilling in so many different areas and portfolios,” she says. “I love the fact that even if you didn’t go to university, you can still do well and have a great career.”

She says local government offers plenty of opportunities for young people. She has had about nine different roles at the council where she’s learnt new skills and developed her career.

She also had three months where she was seconded to The Horowhenua Company as acting chief executive.

Ashley says anyone considering a career in local government can expect an exciting ride serving the community.

“There are so many opportunities that as 16 or 17-year-olds we weren’t even aware of.”

She says those opportunities extend beyond individual councils.

“Yes, each council does things slightly different, but you can move anywhere within New Zealand and even wider. It’s a complex beast, but once you know it, you can go far.”

Horowhenua District Council chief executive Monique Davidson says Ashley has been a rising star since she joined the council in 2010.

“Ashley exemplifies fostering local talent and growing within, she has set a great example for her direct reports and colleagues with her drive and positivity towards our LG sector, showing how a career can be shaped around contribution to her hometown.”

Monique says Ashley is a natural leader who has brought a fresh, innovative approach to project management and strategic development while fostering collaboration, sharing knowledge and increasing engagement by 123 percent.

“Her willingness to serve as a role model saw Ashley play a pivotal role in reshaping the organisation’s strategy in 2023, delivering innovative programmes and initiatives to support the Executive Leadership Team with implementation,” Monique says. “Her proactive involvement in strategic initiatives reflects her commitment to fostering a culture of learning and collaboration.”

Brent Harvey, the council’s group manager, community experience and services, also won an overseas manager exchange, to Queensland, at the Taituarā awards. He was not available for interview at the time of writing.