Congratulations and challenges.

The first full day of conference featured a range of speakers: a doyenne of the American voluntary sector, Frances Hesselbein; the general manager of Northland Maori provider Hauora Whanui and Maori Language Commissioner, Erima Henare; Families Commissioner Lyn Campbell; and the Governor-General Anand Satyanand. Both Plunket volunteers and clinical staff attended the first day, which was interspersed with song and dance performances and birthday celebrations.

Chief executive of the Girl Scouts of America from 1976-1990, during which she took the organisation from the brink of collapse to its highest-ever membership, Hesselbein said the greatest success in meeting people's needs was in the social or voluntary sector.

Claiming a "passion for diversity", she said that what really set the girl scouts' organisation alive was the question: When they look at us, can they find themselves?

"The organisation responded to that question and we more than tripled the ethnic membership and that was also reflected in the board, management team and workforce."

Congratulating Plunket on its centenary, Hesselbein said "how we care for the hearth and education of children will determine the future of our democracy". Voluntary organisations had to be "viable and relevant in tenuous times". Speaking on the imperatives of leadership, she said these included challenging the status quo and developing principled leaders of change, who would be the catalysts for the transformation of organisations. "Social sector organisations must be mission-focused, values based and demographics-driven," she said. "But sometimes leadership is sacrifice."

Building collaborations was essential but voluntary organisations were not "the junior partner of business and government but an indispensable partner."

General manager of Hauora Whanui, Henare challenged Plunket on how it would meet the challenges of the next 100 years. He explained that "as Maori, we walk into the future going backwards, we look backwards in order to go forwards". For Plunket, this meant valuing and learning from the achievements of the past while looking to the future and the challenges ahead. "Plunket has survived two world wars and other wars, and helped raise five generations of children. The challenge in the next 100 years will be to recognise the rapidly changing New Zealand demography and to have the resources to cope."

Thirty percent of babies were now being raised by single parents, with Maori and Polynesian families having babies much earlier than others; Maori were also having larger families. "In 100 years from now, half our population will be Maori and Pacific."

Henare praised Plunket for having a Maori strategic plan, a Maori caucus and Maori appointees to the governing body. But he suggested the organ[sat[on would have to work hard to "make real the rhetoric in the documents".

Maori and Polynesian workforce needed

"If Plunket is to have access to Maori and Pacific families, it will need a large Maori and Polynesian workforce, including volunteers. Will Plunket stay in the niche it has created or will it join new collaborations, linking families to the other services they need? Plunket cannot assume people will make these connections on their own." Hauora Whanui valued its relationship with Plunket in Northland. At one time, Hauora Whanui was the provider of choice for all babies born at Kawakawa and Whangarei Hospitals. "Then we realised we were doing our whanau a disservice by taking these babies away from the Plunket service. Plunket now cares for these babies up to six months, with Hauora Whanui taking over from then until the children start school At that point, the district nursing service takes over. This model still works today."

Bringing fathers' perspectives and needs into Plunket's vision for the future was the challenge brought to the conference by Campbell Some of the significant changes facing fatuities and Plunket in the 21st century included older parents, blended families, single parents, work/ life balance, growing ethnic diversity, and the fact half New Zealand families with a child aged less than 12 months were in the paid workforce. "These are big challenges to Plunket and all of us. We need visionary leadership and we need to be proactive, not reactive."

Fathers at the centre

Campbell suggested that fathers needed to be at the centre of Plunket in these times of change and she praised the organisation for already having an inclusive approach. "Fatherlessness is a huge problem in our society. Maybe one day we'll have a Plunket blokes' conference."

She praised the work of the 21 Plunket family centres throughout the country. Parenting education and support was vital. She looked forward to celebrating real government commitment to families and children in the future, and Plunket leading the achievement of this vision. The Governor-General presented his Plunket credentials to the conference: a Plunket baby, the father of three Plunket babies, the husband of a Plunket office holder in Auckland, and the son of a Karitane nurse and an Otago GP. He and his wife Susan are also the patrons of the society and he assured Plunket of their ongoing support.

"There are few health organisations that have not only survived but have thrived. Plunket is as Kiwi as the All Blacks, ANZAC and buzzy bee. It is part of the fabric of New Zealanders' lives." A hallmark of Plunket was its adaptability, as families and society changed over the century. Increasing ethnic diversity, the changing nature of families, fathers as primary caregivers were all part of a changing dynamic which would be seen more in the future.

"Plunket couldn't support the children of New Zealand without the support of its community of volunteers," he said. "New Zealand can thank Plunket for many things, including the fact it has been flexible enough to accommodate the evolution of New Zealand families."

The Governor-General ended with a wero. "We must continue supporting Plunket in its championing of children. Plunket cannot do the work it does without this support. It is a keystone of New Zealand's community of caring and can't survive in isolation, just as a child can't survive without the love and support of a family."