A Human Rights Commission study on what people consider is a decent place to work, has singled out Wakatu Incorporation in Nelson for the way it runs a mentoring programme.
Wakatu chief executive Keith Palmer says the incorporation looks at its whanau and shareholders for people in their 30s with tertiary qualifications and business experience who could be directors in future.
They spend two years as an associate director on a subsidiary company and then on the main board, which oversees $250 million in land, horticulture and aquaculture assets.
He told Waatea News the scheme was started 10 years ago by former chair Steve Marshall and then-deputy Paul Morgan, who were concerned the board was stagnating.
"The board was getting older and young people were needed," he said.
Mr Palmer said two people who who had previously been mentored were elected to the board at the last election.
