Sector Manager reflects on 25 years of learner growth and achievement
3 September 2025
A passion for adult education has driven Primary ITO sector manager Tanya Ingram on a path of professional development while supporting learners and industry over two decades with the organisation.
Tanya pictured on her lifestyle block on a windy Waikato day
Celebrating 25 years with Primary ITO in 2025, Tanya works with industry to ensure that training programmes deliver the right skills to meet the needs of businesses and their staff.
She looks after a diverse range of sectors including animal care (SPCA), irrigation and hydrology, rural servicing, enchem (energy and chemical process operations), artificial insemination of livestock, pork and poultry. Each sector has its own unique training needs, challenges, and preferred types of training delivery.
Growing up rurally near Hamilton, Tanya spent many hours visiting sheep and beef farms with her father, a topdressing pilot. After leaving school she worked at Inland Revenue, the health department, and the University of Waikato. The latter piqued her interest in learning and education, so she enrolled in an undergraduate HR and adult education degree. This led to a role in the research arm in the management school, where she finished her degree.
“I like to analyse and learn new things. It was a good place to be,” she says.
Spotting a job vacancy for a Training Adviser role at AgITO (now Primary ITO) in May 2000, Tanya ticked the boxes of having both a rural and an adult education background. “It sounded like the perfect job,” she says.
As a Training Adviser Tanya looked after learners and employers from Waikato up to Auckland, in a diverse range of sectors including dairy, sheep and beef, pork, poultry and wool.
After five years, she took time out to have children. Returning part-time, she spent eight years in project roles across Primary ITO before stepping into a full-time administrative role. She became a sector adviser, before stepping up into a sector manager role in 2018.
Tanya says her role is about supporting her sectors to navigate the vocational education and training system.
Tanya says highlights have included helping to get vehicle micro-credentials (bite-sized learning) up and running. Previously vehicle training was part of longer training programmes.
“This has been a big success. It was an idea that grew from the pest sector and seeing a need for bespoke vehicle training.”
Another highlight was overseeing a pilot project using funding from the Food and Fibre Centre of Vocational Excellence (Cove) to trial the use of a digital app to record learner evidence for assessment.
Recently Tanya’s team kicked off an initiative to develop new learning and assessment resources for the enchem sector.
In July, alongside her on-going postgraduate study, Tanya took part in a Primary ITO succession programme. This enabled managers to step up into a more senior role to learn its complexities and gain experience, with support systems and coaching in place.
"It was interesting to step up and see what happens in that role. It was great to sit in on strategic sessions and a great opportunity to learn a bit more and grow. It refreshes you and gives you a different perspective.”
Tanya strongly believes in the on-job training approach.
“It’s great knowledge and skills for life. It helps people understand how to do things and the why, and it opens you up into growth mode and thinking of new ways of doing things. Everyone benefits – staff, the business, and the industry.”
Tanya says having strong relationships with industry is paramount.
Outside of work Tanya enjoys time with family on their ten-acre block, travel and reading.