Tēnā koutou
As I reflect on the year, I mihi to the many community organisations and funders we at CSI have had the pleasure of working alongside, providing capability development and ensuring you can focus on your kaupapa. In addition to the organisations we have worked with, it has been rewarding to see the number of people in the sector who have taken part in our Te Pūaha Talks webinars. These webinars are one of the ways we are fulfilling the aims of Te Pūaha o Te Ako as our knowledge hub, a platform for sharing what we are seeing and learning. As you will see below, our final Te Pūaha Talks webinar for 2022, Communications in the Good Times and the Bad, will take place tomorrow. Limited places are still available – registration details are below.
Last month I had the privilege of attending the Combined Community Trusts 2022 Conference hosted by BayTrust in Rotorua. The theme “working together to accelerate bold meaningful change” focussed on two key issues in Aotearoa - how to pursue major housing and climate change initiatives collectively. “If we are to truly make a meaningful change in our communities then we must now explore advocacy, leadership and using our collective investment bases to make a difference and fulfil our purpose” says Bay Trust Chief Executive Alastair Rhodes. It is inspiring to feel the energy, and see the enthusiasm, goodwill and commitment to being collaborative.
We at CSI look forward to working alongside you and being able to hui/meet kanohi ki te kanohi as and when we can. Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou.
Ngā manaakitanga
Karinia Lee, Head of Centre
Centre for Social Impact
Te Pūaha Talks: Join us tomorrow for Communications in good times and bad
Our 2022 capability building programme of webinars, Te Pūaha Talks, has drawn over 950 participants. Subjects for these online workshops, which are funded for the sector by Foundation North, have ranged from evaluation, to hauora, to climate action. To finish the series for 2022, we are following up our popular webinar on social media with another communications-focused session, Communications in Good Times & Bad.
We are delighted that Kirsten Matthew, who presented our social media webinar, is our facilitator again for this event. Kirsten, who is founder of communications agency Mabel Maguire brings her considerable experience and wisdom to this topic.
If you’re a beginner to intermediate comms practitioner or volunteer in the not-for-profit sector, join us tomorrow at 10.00am.
Good governance code for community organisations
It’s launched! A journey to strengthen non-government organisation (NGO) governance in Aotearoa, that started in 2019, reached another milestone in November with the launch of The Good Governance Code, a set of six principles that define good governance for community organisations in Aotearoa.
The launch of the code was a significant milestone on a journey which started in 2019 when the Centre for Social Impact partnered with the Superdiversity Institute for Law, Policy and Business to review NGO governance. A report, What Is The Future For NGO Governance? was produced by CSI associate Dr Jo Cribb. It drew on the experience of fifteen NGO governance experts. It identified a need for considerable investment into New Zealand’s 114,000 NGOs and called for a national, co-ordinated approach to investing in community governance.
Funding from Foundation North, and administrative support from the Centre for Social Impact was then made available to bring together volunteers from across the country to contribute to the development of the strategy/action plan. This saw a ‘Coalition of the Willing for Community Governance’, working as Community Governance New Zealand, come together to work to strengthen, unify, enhance the value and support best practice in community governance.
Activity this year included a series of co-design workshops, facilitated by Jo Cribb and Rose Hiha-Agnew, that brought together not-for-profits, philanthropic organisations, government, and businesses to create the foundational principles for the good governance code.
The code is a significant asset for the not-for-profit sector. It is available here on the Community Governance website
Te Pūaha Insights; Mapping the philanthropic landscape
The Centre for Social Impact is often commissioned to produce research and analysis on emerging issues for the not-for-profit sector. Our new series of Te Pūaha Insights papers are designed to provide a brief accessible overview of key research, reports and other resources produced for our clients, by our team, and by the wider national and international social impact sector.
Our first paper, Insights into trends and practices in contemporary philanthropy, draws on a report commissioned from CSI by the JR McKenzie Trust (JRMT). It focuses on five key themes identified in the report as drivers of current philanthropic thinking and practice: equity; power sharing; systems change; decolonising practice; and adaptability and learning. The Insights paper is available here
Tatou Tatou – nurturing hauora
Tātou tātou, you, me, all of us is a series of hauora initiatives to nurture and serve the wellbeing of individuals and teams in charities and not-for-profits across Aotearoa. Their first initiative was the launch in September of a series of podcasts featuring interviews by Tuihana Ohia, and Rochelle Stewart-Allen with community leaders. The team has now released a second series of podcasts where Tuihana and Rochelle talk wellbeing with Sakhr Munassar, a youth co-ordinator at Red Cross; Tu Chapman, co-chair Intersex Aotearoa; and Eden Skipper, co-chair Generation Zero. For some inspiration and insights, listen to the kōrero here
Mehemea ka moemoeā ahau, ko ahau anake
Mehemea ka moemoeā tātou, ka taea e tātou
If I dream, I dream alone.
If we dream as a collective, we can achieve our dream.
Tātou tātou is an initiative of Hui E! Community Aotearoa, Volunteering New Zealand, Centre for Social Impact and Woo Wellbeing.
Funders and Climate Action in Aotearoa
The Auckland Climate Festival 2022 in October saw 125+ events and activations across Tāmaki Makaurau, raising awareness of the need, and opportunities, for climate action. One of the events; a Te Pūaha Talk Funders and Climate Action in Aotearoa, introduced the Funders Commitment on Climate Action developed by the Community Trusts of Aotearoa.
Around 100 participants, including funders and individuals and organisations involved in climate action, joined presenters Linn Araboglos, Aimee Kaio, and Devon Judd. Linn, Aimee and Devon provided context for the Funders Commitment, introduced the tika transition approach that embraces tikanga Māori in the search for solutions to help us move to a low-emissions economy, and reminded participants to contact Funders Commitment signatories if they have climate action initiatives that need support. The presentation, and a recording of the webinar, are now available
The Combined Community Trusts 2022 Conference
The Combined Community Trusts 2022 Conference in Rotorua last month brought together trust CEOs, chairs, trustees and key staff from around the motu. A key outcome: a commitment to collaborate to address community needs for healthy, affordable housing, and climate change and biodiversity issues.
Trust CEOs will play a critical role in delivering on this commitment, and prior to the start of the conference CSI associates Caren Rangi and Judy Whiteman delivered a short workshop for the trusts’ Chairs and Deputy Chairs focussing on CEO performance and development plans. Areas covered included: best practice, establishing performance expectations, guiding performance, and assessing performance. In this fast-paced session participants actively engaged in large and small groups to share their experiences and resources. All left with useful insights to feed into their trust’s process.
Kanohi ki te kanohi with our network
As a team we finished the year with the special experience of bringing our associates back together, kanohi ki te kanohi. This was the first time we had all been in the same room since May 2021. We welcomed those who have joined our team over the last eighteen months, shared our insights from our work, and considered how we can enhance what we offer to the sector.
Our day together finished with a shared meal and the reinstated Chocolate Fish Awards which recognise desired associate characteristics such as diligence in responding to admin emails and submitting invoices on time.
Welcome to Aimee and Kirsty
We are delighted to welcome two new people to our team, Aimee Kaio and Kirsty Gover.
Aimee Kaio (Ngāi Tahu, Te Arawa, Ngā Puhi) has collaborated with CSI on projects previously and has now joined us as an associate. Kirsty Gover is taking on the challenging role of Operations Support for us.
Aimee specialises in strategy development, iwi Māori engagement, research and evaluation. In addition to her experience in hapū, iwi and regional developments working across the social, educational, and cultural not-for-profit sectors, Aimee also brings a commercial perspective from her work with SMEs and corporates.
Kirsty is taking on the challenging role of Operations Support for the Centre, providing project Secretariat support, administrative services to the CSI team and associates, and supporting efficient business workflow. Kirsty has a background in primary and secondary health care, which has included roles in hospital administration/PA, health promotion and community engagement, and as a Smokefree practitioner/educator. She also held the role of fundraising manager at North Shore Women’s Centre.