Women in Leadership - Hāwera

The first Women in Leadership Series of the year in Taranaki aims to create a space for meaningful conversations that inspire and empower. It will bring together wāhine from diverse sectors to share their journeys, challenges, and successes. 

Join us as we celebrate the remarkable stories of wāhine, fostering connection, growth, and valuable insights.

Chantelle Bramley - Executive General Manager Operations, Transpower

Chantelle was appointed Executive General Manager Operations in February 2024 after joining Transpower in July 2022.

Prior to joining Transpower, Chantelle was Executive General Manager of Corporate Affairs at Essential Energy, the distribution network business covering regional and rural New South Wales. An economist by training with twenty years of international energy and electricity experience, Chantelle held senior roles in Canada and the US at Direct Energy and was the Executive General Manager Strategy and Economics at the Australian Energy Market Commission prior to joining Essential Energy.

Sonia Kiser - CEO and International Sales Manager, Carac Group

Carac Group Sonia Kiser is CEO and International Sales Manager of Carac Group, based in Eltham, Taranaki, and employing 40 people in a state-of-the-art manufacturing/engineering facility.

CEO for the past four years, she steers a company that manufactures more than 4,500 components for the automotive, agricultural, marine, construction, forestry, engineering and utility industries in New Zealand and around the world.

Sonia’s industry and technical knowledge have been developed from grass roots, starting on the factory floor 23 years ago, holding various factory roles and gaining a wealth of industry and business knowledge as she has worked her way up. “I’m very solutions-focused and my technical knowledge gives me confidence – it’s core to the culture of our business – Determination and the ability to always find a solution,” she says.

Carac Group are now exporting their TrackGrip brand internationally to Australia, Europe, UK, Norway, Brazil, USA, Canada and growing. Sonia has been a key factor in the company’s development of a successful dealer network of over 450 locations, set-up of three manufacturing plants and distribution centres across North America over the past 15 months.

Sonia’s base of technical knowledge sees her well, giving her confidence as she deals in growing these markets with some of the world’s largest brands including Caterpillar. As CEO Sonia’s team is all important to business success and Carac’s export growth.

“We’ve got a fantastic team here at Carac, alongside the support of our extended team. They include dedicated suppliers; our freight team, the logistics, our distribution centres overseas, as well as Venture Taranaki and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) who help us connect with business-people worldwide in the export space,” says Sonia.

While spare time is limited, with Sonia juggling motherhood to a young family and her career, she also loves to compete in nationwide sporting events when she’s able. “A proud Taranaki local, I am very passionate about my family and friends and enjoying the beautiful area we live in. I recently completed my first half ironman,” she says.

Early Achievements include:

• Wellington Body Building Champion (2008)

• Taranaki Rose of Tralee Winner (2008) – went on to judge for Taranaki and New   Zealand and attended the world final in Ireland

• Certificate of Sports and Fitness with Distinction

• Mini MBA in International Business Management Institute Berlin – Germany International Business & Economics, Essential Business Skills, Human Resource Management, Strategy & Operations, Finance & Accounting, Marketing & Communications.

• Television presenter for the ‘Vintage New Zealand Machinery Show’ on Sky TV.