We were privileged to hear from Cr Prahba Ravi this week on her life in Governance. Prahba was born in India to parents who raised their family on the ethics and values around ‘you can achieve anything if you believe in yourself’. Her upbringing was a traditional environment based on forward and modern thinking. Very unlike true Indian culture. In her late teens Prahba travelled to Canada representing India as a Youth Ambassador.
This sparked her love for international travel which was to carry on for many years. Initially, Prahba and her family met with a lot of resistance from her local community thinking Western ways would affect her negatively. Her family continued to support Prahba however, knowing she was destined for greater things. After Prahba married her husband Ravi they decided they needed to migrate to another country to provide better opportunities for their growing family. They made this decision knowing both were committed to preserving their cultural roots, their language and their traditions, whilst embracing a new culture. They had three countries to choose from but Ravi’s one request was for a cricket playing nation so New Zealand won the toss.
They have now been here thirty years.
Having arrived with a Master’s Degree, Prahba was quick to learn New Zealand does not recognise many oversees qualifications so she had to start her career from scratch. The ACC call centre was her first foray into her new working life. This was during the onset of the organisation going through major legislative changes, that meant Prahba learnt and adapted quickly to the difficulties one can find at the end of a telephone line with irate consumers. She was quick to note that Kiwis themselves generally are all about fairness and this has taught her much about her community and the country as a whole.
After a year Prahba moved into the education sector where her Governance role took effect. In 2005 she undertook her first board role while working for the international division of Weltec. It allowed her to see the vision faced by local and international businesses alongside the challenges they often faced.
Moving into the Health area Prahba established and chaired the HVDHB Consumer Council. To this day she retains a huge understanding of the health system and has gained immense knowledge around different practices.
In total, Prahba has served 25 plus years in education, travelled to more than 45 countries, all the while promoting New Zealand as a study destination for young people. Her work has brought in millions of dollars of revenue to the New Zealand economy. She was able to do this having a supportive husband able to bring up their young family often on his own when she would be out of the country three weeks out of five.
Prahba and Ravi’s vow to protect and value their heritage resulted in the Natraj School of Dance being established twenty-nine years ago. Over this time, she has trained 3000 students across a diverse spectre of nationalities.
The 2025 Elections saw Prahba approached to run for the Mayoralty. She did so with the understanding she would be bringing in a fresh perspective as an Indian woman. Although not successful, Prahba received over 17,000 votes to see her an elected Councillor at Large for Lower Hutt. Something she is very proud of. During her campaign she visited 5000plus businesses singlehandedly, and door knocked on over 7,500 homes. Prahba lives by her own personal mantra of Values, Courage and Community.