Carla Forbes and the team at Market South have always had disproportionately loud voices – think that’s why What’s On Invers like the way they roll…
And, you could argue, that is why they are so good at their chosen field… marketing.
They are seen by many as the voice to promote Invercargill and the region. They use a variety of tools, including quality publications, visitor guides and maps, and Southland’s annual culture and lifestyle magazine The Life.
This year Carla is a “humble” finalist in two categories; Diversity and Rural; for the Westpac Women of Influence 2017 awards.
What’s On Invers have quietly cheered Carla and the Market South team on for their tireless promotion of Southland, by being involved in their publications and promotions.
Upon finding out she was an awards finalist, Carla said she has to ensure her ‘name was spelt correctly’ and that she wasn’t sure ‘if my name warrants sitting amongst such inspirational woman’.
Carla is also the chair for Southland’s Chamber of Commerce, and admits to ‘always being incredibly vocal around encouraging and facilitating woman into leadership roles’.
The first chair of the Glass Elevator professional women’s networking group and as an active committee member Carla volunteers her time to support women to achieve. Carla is also involved with community boards, trusts and panels.
Carla actively supports the transformational work of the (SoRDS) Southland Regional Development Strategy. A strategy aimed at shifting the course of the Southland region to boldly buck regional trends in order to gain more Government spend, while ensuring the buoyant economy of the region, and having positive public discourse, along with more social and cultural diversity.
A key goal of the strategy is to attract more people to live in Southland, this wraps around multiple projects to ensure we are not just ready for more people but that we can prosper as a region, through business extension, new industries, and well-connected support systems.
Carla is passionate about the intern programme the Chamber run with the Southern Institute of Technology to place international students into the workplace; and is currently working with a group on a project called ‘The Awareness Project’. This is a business diversity consultancy offering up-skilling and tools for businesses and the policy to support these.
“The Awareness Project is in its infancy, it’s really just in the planning stages, getting off the ground, but I’m immensely proud of it.
“It is wonderful to see businesses wanting to embrace diversity, this is not about being PC, not at all. At the risk of being crass – having a diverse workplace can directly impact your bottom line for multiple reasons but as our landscape changes and let’s face it – we are now a global village – so too must those offering services to our communities.”
“I’m excited to be on the list, it is truly humbling. To be honest I feel I’m just at the front of the line, I have amazing people that work with me in all projects I work on. I feel I’m taking the limelight that needs to be shared. But if it puts the light on some important issues I’ll happily stand out front.”
whatsoninvers.nz are proud to see someone roll their sleeves up and make some noise -good on you Carla!