Foundation North: Centering Indigenous concepts and building cultural capability

Foundation North is one of twelve community trusts in Aotearoa New Zealand, providing grant funding and other support to community organisations operating in the Auckland and Northland regions. This story focuses on Foundation North’s Gulf Innovation Fund Together (GIFT) initiative, developed in 2016 in response to increasing evidence that the health of Tīkapa Moana Te Moananui-ā-Toi (Hauraki Gulf) was in decline. Research and kōrero with iwi, Māori, and other stakeholders supported the idea of a bold, sustained, and innovative approach, and those designing the new fund saw an opportunity to place the Māori concept of mauri at the centre. Read the Foundation North story below.

In the video below, Engagement Advisor, Rosie Nathan, reflects on how the Foundation developed new ways of being in relationship with Māori, underpinned by clear values that enabled dialogue to happen about what innovation might look like for the Foundation and for tangata whenua.

NB: This is a case study from The Philanthropic Landscape Volume II: Shifting Culture and Power through Mana-Enhancing Partnerships. Read the full report here.