“Ask yourself, who did you help today?”

“Ask yourself, who did you help today?” - Stacey Shortall, winner of the 2015 Westpac Community and Not-For-Profit award.

The winners for the prestigious 2015 Women of Influence Awards have been revealed, and Minter Ellison Rudd Watts partner Stacey Shortall has been selected from among 20 finalists as the winner of the Community and Not-For-Profit award.

Judges said that Stacey stood out because of her contribution and influence in the lives of disadvantaged children.

While based in New York Stacey worked as a volunteer lawyer in many New York State prisons, and upon her return to New Zealand she developed a program that seeks to help mothers incarcerated at Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility maintain meaningful connections with their children. Stacey also developed a weekly homework club at a decile one school in Wellington where primary school children are assisted with their homework and provided access to different role models. She continues to develop other initiatives intended to help stop violence against women and children and provides thought leadership by writing and speaking on topics such as diversity and women’s rights.

Fairfax Media managing director Simon Tong said all of the Women of Influence finalists had inspiring stories. "We're blown away by the calibre of entries. The record number of nominees this year made selecting our winners really tricky”.

Upon receiving the award Stacey said “I am truly humbled to be recognized in this way. There are so many other amazing people active in our communities seeking to influence for good. It is wonderful that awards such as this exist to shine the light of some of those efforts. I ask my kids over dinner each night who they have helped today. If over 4 million of us could answer that question positively, imagine the movement we could create in this country. Being publicly recognized is a great honor and one I dedicate to the women and girls I have had the privilege of helping at home and abroad. But what matters most is what we do when no one is watching. And I believe we can and must do more, especially for our children. Who have you helped today?"

Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Chair Cathy Quinn said “Stacey is a person that inspires us all-not only is she a terrific lawyer-she is someone who looks to make a positive difference wherever she can. Her generosity in the work place and in the community is awesome. All the finalists are women going out of their way to improve the lives of others. We are delighted that amongst this group of superb women Stacey was selected as this year’s winner. We are very proud of what Stacey continues to achieve and that we have such a brilliant role model in our firm. We look to support Stacey’s work in the community and are incredibly proud to have her as our colleague.”

Aside from her pro bono work, Stacey has broad experience successfully representing financial institutions, other corporate clients, public sector entities and directors & officers in significant litigation and regulatory matters. She has advised in complex disputes and investigations involving contractual breaches, the exercise of statutory powers, misleading statements & omissions, insurance cover, fraud, accounting improprieties, bid-rigging, money laundering, tax abnormalities, health & safety violations, fair trading concerns, construction issues, food safety and medical matters. Prior to returning to Minter Ellison Rudd Watts in 2010, she spent 11 years as a Wall Street litigator in New York at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (selected as the best litigation firm in the United States by The American Lawyer in 2006).

She has been recognised as a leading lawyer in New Zealand by independent research from Chambers, The APL 500, Legal Media Group and NZ Lawyer.

Stacey is also, and most importantly, the mother of three young children.

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