Collaborating with Others

In October 2023, a wānanga was convened under the guidance of Te Oneroa-ā-Tōhe Beach Management Board, supported by Te Rūnanga o Te Rārawa, to ignite systems change action and to restore the mauri of Te Oneroa-ā-Tōhe, formerly known as Ninety Mile Beach.

Foundation North contributed with many other funders and agencies to enable Tangata Whenua, rangatahi, local communities, wairua tapu, landowners and users, fisheries and aquaculture, agencies, tourism stakeholders, and knowledge holders (encompassing both mātauranga and science) to come together, in a watershed moment, to validate a common mission to restore the mauri of the beach, take ownership of their actions, and foster commitment to implementation.

The wānanga was run using the Future Search process, a globally renown approach to collaboration. Our Centre for Social Impact (CSI) Associate Miranda Cassidy-O’Connell and her wānanga co-facilitator, Lisa McNab, talk about the steps involved in this three-day wānanga here and CSI produced a case study of this Future Search initiative so others could learn from the experience.

Our partnership with Creative New Zealand on the Asian Artists’ Fund (AAF) has seen two further iterations of the Fund in our reporting year. In June 2023, to ensure wide accessibility for Asian arts communities, the second iteration of this Fund had a combined pūtea of $650,000 and a participatory, community-led element. With a desire to further understand and shift the power back to the Asian arts community, a co-design hui was held, leading to the development of the Asian Artists’ Fund 2.0.

In February 2024, a third round of the Fund was announced with a total of $550,000 to distribute in the 2024/25 year. Like version 2.0, Asian artists themselves were invited to design the Fund, with Outreach Advisors from the Asian arts community also on hand to support applicants on their funding journey. An innovation for AAF 3.0 was an acknowledgment in the Fund’s design of the place of Asian people in Aotearoa in relation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Since 2022, Foundation North has provided top-up co-funding to the Rainbow Wellbeing Legacy Fund (RWLF) to bolster support for Rainbow communities in Tāmaki Makaurau and Tai Tokerau. This partnership with The Rule Foundation means that more grants can be distributed to projects, activities and organisations in our rohe that work to improve mental health and other outcomes for the Rainbow community.

Foundation North’s ongoing funding partnership with Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) for its Warmer Kiwi Homes Initiative saw a further $1.2m of funding contributing to the portion of insulation and heating costs not covered by a Warmer Kiwi Homes grant. This investment, alongside other funding partners, means homes can be made warm, dry and healthy for hundreds more households in West Auckland and South Auckland at no cost to them.

In June 2023, a panel of 13 young Pacific South Aucklanders distributed 20 grants of $10,000 to projects benefitting Pacific communities in South Auckland. Over the previous months, the Pasifika Waymakers Fund was designed, promoted and delivered by the panel, supported by a youth facilitator and Foundation North staff. This by-Pacific for-Pacific approach was made possible with $100,000 from Foundation North matched by $100,000 from the Ministry for Pacific Peoples.

Joint funding as a Combined Community Trust collective of 12 supported the Climate Change Leads for the collective mahi of Climate Action Aotearoa and the mahi of the Inclusive Aotearoa Collective. Co-funding with Trust Waikato, Toi Foundation, Rātā Foundation, Otago Community Trust, Eastern & Central Community Trust, Bay Trust and Community Trust South enabled a brand-new joint funding initiative, the Kaupapa of National Signficance (KONS), focused on national climate action initiatives.

Oranga Decides was a pilot participatory budget programme centered on the geographical area of Oranga, co-funded with the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board. In a neighbouring suburb, a funding/grant writing workshop for community groups was provided in collaboration with Puketāpapa Local Board.