Collaborating with Others

We recognise the value and importance of kotahitanga in achieving a shared, intergenerational vision for our communities.

We are collaborating and working with Tangata whenua and a wide range of local, regional and national stakeholders, community groups, central and local government, other community trusts and other funders to partner in kaupapa of shared interest.

Foundation North has partnered with Clare Foundation and SkyCity Auckland Community Trust to invest in a unique participatory grant-making opportunity in Te Tai Tokerau. A small group of rangatahi calling themselves Te Māhuri o te Taiao, were nominated by their iwi/hapū of Te Uri o Hau, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua and Te Roroa, to co-design and implement their fund, their way. Ably facilitated by Wot Matters, and with guidance from our staff, the rōpū collectively sought and assessed applications according to their own criteria, with Round One of their fund closing in October 2024. Three applications totalling $89,820 were approved. The panel opened Round Two in June 2025.

Based on participatory grant-making principles, and in its third iteration, the Asian Artists’ Fund distributed $579,804 amongst 17 successful applicants in September 2024. Like previous iterations of the fund, which is co-funded with Creative New Zealand, Asian artists were involved in designing, assessing, and recommending funding. Outreach Advisors from the Asian arts community provided guidance to applicants, and in-person funding information workshops were offered. This time, the fund sought to acknowledge the place of Asian peoples in Aotearoa in relation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, so facilitated wānanga were organised for Asian artists focusing on deepening understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni.

In October 2024, Foundation North was excited to join with Rule Foundation to announce a new Fund, administered by the Rule Foundation for Takatāpui and Rainbow communities in Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau. Since 2022, the Foundation North has partnered with Rule Foundation to help support Takatāpui and Rainbow communities via the Rainbow Wellbeing Legacy Fund. By developing a new intermediary funding arrangement with the Rule Foundation, more of our funding will be targeted and available to support our Rainbow and Takatāpui whānau, and organisations seeking less than $70,000 will now apply directly to Rule Foundation.

Under the guidance of Ihitū Ihiroa Ihirangi Trust, Take Ahuarangi – Hui A Rangatahi (Rangatahi Climate Summit) was held in June 2024 at Ōrākei Marae. Rangatahi got the chance to learn about the causes of climate change, hear from those affected, and see what young people are doing to actively tackle and help prevent climate change. Foundation North contributed to the wānanga alongside Taaora Ihirangi and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei .

In November 2024 we were excited to be part of Rule Foundation's collective funding hui at Te Kona in Kaikohe. Through whakawhanaunga and collective dreaming, community organisations working to support Rainbow activities in Te Tai Tokerau got together to discuss their work, the opportunities and gaps in the community, and the best use of $50,000 from Foundation North's contribution to the Rainbow Wellbeing Legacy Fund (RWLF). Among those funded were Bald Angels (Kerikeri), Paparoa Pride and Whangārei Proud - for details of the approved RWLF grants visit Rule Foundation’s website.

Foundation North continues to be an active member of The Arts Investors Forum and contributes data and insights to Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi, the trust established to support the Auckland region’s arts, culture and creative sector. The 2024 report, Mapping the Auckland Funding Ecosystem for Ngā Toi – Culture, Creativity and the Arts was published in August 2024.

Together with JR McKenzie and Spectrum Foundation, we supported Access Matters and the Disabled Persons Assembly to bring together senior leadership and advocates from the disabled community to work together to create a shared vision and unified voice on important issues. The resulting Finding Common Ground disability leaders hui was held in February in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Leaders of Aotearoa’s Community Trusts agreed Climate Action as the theme for the Kaupapa of National Significance, a collaborative funding model designed and contributed to by the Combined Community Trusts. In its inaugural year, a total of $600,000 was distributed to three national-scale climate initiatives: Para Kore Marae Incorporated’s ‘Toitū Te Taiao’ programme, The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand’s work to advance coordinated action for coastal ecosystems, and Lawyers For Climate Action NZ’s mahi that mobilises volunteer lawyers to use legal tools to achieve climate change action.

Foundation North values working in partnering ways with other funders and continues to contribute to a number of long-standing co-funding arrangements. An example of this is our collective commitment, over the last seven years, with The Tindall Foundation, Todd Foundation and Te Rourou One Aotearoa Foundation to support VOYCE Whakarongo Mai. VOYCE is the primary organisation advocating for the rights and wellbeing of children and young people in care in Aotearoa. Given the reports by The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, co-funding over five years was approved in November 2024 to resource VOYCE’s Systemic Advocacy – Te Waka Rangatira initiative, to keep raising the voices of those in care and driving for policy and systems change.