Waiotahi Contractors’ Nicole Pierce has been recognised nationally for her work within the extractive sector.

Ms Pierce was awarded the Kristy Christensen Memorial Award at the Komatsu Women in Executives 2026 event, having earlier been named a finalist alongside Lisa North and Charlene Donald.

Ms Pierce oversees Waiotahi Contractors’ Reids Road production site, making sure day-to-day operations run smoothly.

She takes drone footage for monthly stocktakes across all the company’s quarry sites, manages PPE for the team, and is a health and safety representative for the quarries team.

She received the award for her ability and dedication to making everyone in her team feel included and valued while on the job at Waiotahi Contractors in Whakatāne and being there when her team needed to talk.

The Kristy Christensen Memorial Award is sponsored by MinEx and is awarded to women who champion diversity and inclusion across the extractive sectors.

It was established in 2023 to remember Kristy Christensen and her dedication to the coal mining sector after she passed away in 2022 at the age of 37 after a battle with breast cancer.

Ms Pierce was nominated by Waiotahi Contractors’ health and safety manager Gerard Jull, whom she works closely with day-to-day.

She said she felt honoured to be in the running for the award and winning was a surprise.

“I didn’t really expect to win; it was some pretty tough competition up there.”

She didn’t have a speech prepared so had to come up with one on the spot

Although the award has her name on it, Ms Pierce said she could not have achieved it without her team.

“I do have a really great team around me that helps me out, so it’s not just me that's won it.”

Waiotahi Contractors is proud of Ms Pierce, saying the award reflects the work they do to boost all their employees.

“We’re absolutely thrilled about Nicole’s award.

“It’s a proud moment for us as a company because it reflects the strength of our people and the culture, we’ve worked hard to build,” a spokesperson said.