**Helen Clark
**Head of the United Nations Development Programme & former prime minister.One of New Zealand’s longestserving prime ministers, and our first elected female PM, Helen holds the third top role at the UN. She is a member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ) and has previously been voted Greatest Living New Zealander.
**Who are the New Zealand women who you believe have most shaped our nation?
**Kate Sheppard, leader of the women’s suffrage movement; Elizabeth McCombs, first elected woman member of parliament; Iriaka Ratana, first Maori woman member of parliament; Mabel Howard, first woman cabinet minister; and Dame Cath Tizard, first woman governor-general and mayor of Auckland.
Who is/was the most important female mentor in your life?
My mother, Margaret Helen Clark.
**What is the best advice you were given as a young woman?
**To carry on my education as far as I could.
**What do you wish you had known at age 20?
**Not to waste any time – life is too short for that.
**What/who is your greatest inspiration now?
**Nelson Mandela – for a lifetime of sacrifice, leadership and belief.
**What is the achievement in your career you are most proud of?
**Being prime minister of New Zealand for nine years.
**What do you believe is the biggest hurdle women still face in their careers and home life?
**Achieving work-life balance – which is hard, whatever one’s income level, for a range of reasons.
**Through your work now with the UNDP, what do you believe New Zealand women should be most grateful for or proud of?
**Enjoying full, equal rights under the law and living in a country which is not mired in armed violence.