Welcome from the Team

Whiringa Whaimana speaks to the bonds that connect people, place and purpose. We honour connections that recognise mana and express manaaki in all its forms, ensuring the whole ecosystem thrives.

Global and national challenges such as conflicts, the effects of climate change, and economic pressures threaten our collective wellbeing. The constrained funding environment and increased pressures on social cohesion exacerbate inequities and demand for social services. More than ever, it is a time to connect, collaborate and work together to sustain the ecosystems that we all rely on. Our commitment to intergenerational impact and systems level change remains steadfast, and we continue to target support in ways that are ‘by and with’ our priority communities.

We have listened to what our communities have told us through the applicant experience survey conducted for us by Verian in 2024 and via other stakeholder engagements, and we are taking action. We are focused on enhancing applicants’ experience of our funding processes, and on amplifying our capacity and capability offerings to strengthen and develop even more effective changemakers.

In the financial year 2024/25, Trustees approved over $68m in funding support, with 1,041 applications processed and 759 grants approved. This included participatory funding pathways, designed and rolled out by those serving their communities directly, and funding arrangements with intermediary partners Rule Foundation, and more recently set in place with Le Va, creating better conditions through these partnerships for the Foundation’s funding to reach our priority communities.

We continued to do the work to strengthen our organisational commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi through a full staff noho marae at Te Taumata o Kupe – Te Mahurehure Marae Learning Centre, deepening understanding of He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti and their relevance to our daily mahi. In June, the joint Kaihautū Ngātahi role was established within Senior Leadership to provide direction, oversight and advice across all business units, to ensure our commitment is embedded in practice.

Our focus on Climate Action is a great way for us to enact our commitment to Te Tiriti, and we commit our resources through our investments, granting, operations and collective action to ensure that everyone has access to opportunities arising from the transition to a low carbon economy.

With a learning and growth mindset, our Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning activities ensure that we are funding and contributing to our strategy, enabling impact and continuously learning about how change and impact happen alongside our communities.

It is the enduring relational connection amongst our staff, Trustees, associates, partners, suppliers and the communities we serve that enables us to play our humble part in the wider ecosystem of our rohe and contribute to our collective wellbeing.

We acknowledge the strong governance by our Trustees in this transformational year, which has been both solid and visionary. We also express gratitude, respect and aroha to Peter Tynan, who announced his decision to resign from the Foundation in March 2025, after serving as CEO for six years. We fondly farewelled Peter at a whakawātea in August and wish him well. We warmly welcome our new Chief Executive, Dylan Lawrence, who joined us in early August.

Welcome to our Annual Report.