Plain Language Awards

Celebrate the stories of our clearest business communicators

Our patron

Chloe Wright (ONZM)

Image, Chloe Wright


Co-founder of the Wright Family Foundation

We were deeply saddened by the news of Chloe Wright’s passing in 2023. As patron of the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust, Chloe was a passionate advocate for plain language and a dear friend. 
 
We are immensely grateful for all that she did to support the work of the Trust. Chloe’s enthusiasm and energy was infectious. She gave much and inspired more.
 
Kua hinga te tōtara o Te Waonui a Tāne (The tōtara has fallen in the great forest of Tane).

Above all, our patron Chloe Wright is a humanitarian driven by profound care for the welfare of others. Chloe believes passionately in the goals of the Awards. She wants to see plain language as the norm in government and business communication — so that information is clear and easy to access for everyone.

As the youngest of nine children in a close-knit family, Chloe learned the value of sharing and working as a team. And she believes the values you learn in childhood stay with you forever.

Chloe counts herself fortunate to have been born in a time when children created their own entertainment — outside play and inside reading. She has always been an avid reader and believes that reading, coupled with a vivid imagination, encourages the creative instinct to grow.

In 1996, Chloe and husband Wayne founded Best-Start Early Learning, providing early childhood education. They wanted to give young children the best opportunity to understand the joy of shared problem-solving and healthy social interaction. Now multiple centres nurture 20,000 children each year, preparing them for a lifetime of creating the best outcomes for themselves and society.

Chloe and Wayne later founded the Wright Family Foundation. The Foundation is a philanthropic organisation that aims to extend the care they started with their early learning centres across all ages.

Chloe was awarded an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit at the start of 2021. This honour recognises her lifetime commitment to philanthropy, education, and health.

Read a message from Chloe on the Wright Family Foundation website


The Wright Family Foundation is a valued sponsor of the Plain Language Awards

Read more about our patron