Tēnā koutou
I’m pleased to share with you our first Dial for 2022, and trust that you had a wonderful summer and enjoyed time with whānau and friends.
The year has started at a steady pace for the CSI team with focus on our new website, community governance initiatives, climate action and continued demand for support for strategic research, capacity/capability development and evaluation.
With ongoing support from Foundation North, the Kia Whiti Tonu programme for ’22 is being refreshed and currently in its final programme development phase – thank you to all who provided feedback.
On behalf of the CSI team and network, I look forward to working with you in our new COVID environment and do hope that we will be able to meet kanohi ki te kanohi sometime soon.
Ngā manaakitanga
Karinia Lee, Head of Centre
Centre for Social Impact
Refreshing our online presence
A refresh of the Centre's website has just been completed. The new design is in place, and we are progressively updating our content.
A key benefit for everyone who uses the site; a better, more searchable interface is in place for our knowledge hub, Te Pūaha o te Ako. This is where we share with our social impact community what we are seeing and learning as we support funders, community organisations and changemakers on their social impact journey.
The new search feature allows users to quickly identify, for example, all the content we have on a topic such as evaluation, or find all our Kia Whiti Tonu webinars, or bring up specific resource types, such as toolkits or reports.
Making it easy to find content was a priority for us; sharing what we learn is central to our kaupapa as an organisation. Te Pūaha o te Ako is a metaphor for our knowledge hub as a place where learning is shared to enable transformational social impact. Te Pūaha (estuary) is where salt and fresh waters meet, a place where new life is produced and nurtured. Oho ake guides our behaviour to be open, and to share, analyse and strive for future learning.
Good Governance Code co-design sprints
Community Governance NZ is facilitating the co-creation of a good governance code to guide not-for-profit community boards in Aotearoa.
“The Code will bring together knowledge from overseas codes, indigenous frameworks, and te ao Māori,” says Rose Hiha-Agnew, Programme Director for Community Governance NZ. “To identify the foundational principles for the code we want to draw on the insights of people with governance experience in not-for-profits, philanthropic organisations, government agencies, and businesses. We’re offering a series of online co-design sprints to support this.”
The sprints, which Rose will facilitate with Dr. Jo Cribb, will be run over March, April, and May. Each will run from 8.30am to 12.30pm.
Please register for any of the sprints where you would like to contribute. The sprints are:
March 4 - Rangatiratanga & Impactful Leadership (registrations closed)
March 17 - Whanaungatanga, Whakawhanaungatanga & Purposeful Leadership
April 1 - Tuakiritanga and Diverse and Inclusive Governance
April 8 - Manaakitanga & Integrity and Accountability
May 6 - Kaitiakitanga and Transparent and Open Governance
May 13 - Effective Processes and Pono
Board Talks
Community Governance NZ's bi-monthly Board Talks provide an opportunity to hear from thought leaders about key issues in governance. The topic for the next Board Talk on Friday 29 April is “Governance pathways, and what it takes to be a board member.” Register now
Guest panellists will include Simon Telfer (Appoint Better Boards), Julia Capon (Do Good Jobs) and Garth Nowland-Foreman (LEAD).
Kia Whiti Tonu - the 2022 online series
Our online capability building webinars and workshops, funded by Foundation North, are coming back in 2022. We had over 1000 attendees at our 2021 Kia Whiti Tonu events, and feedback from participants has shaped our programme for 2022.
“What we have heard is that there is an appetite to do a deeper dive on fewer topics,” CSI Head of Centre Karinia Lee says. “There is particular interest in evaluation, digital marketing, leadership and innovation.” “We already have a wealth of material in our knowledge hub, Te Pūaha O Te Ako, which we can draw on to enrich what we are able to offer in the webinars and workshops.”
In recognition of the way the 2022 series will add to the bank of resources available to the sector through CSI’s Te Pūaha portal, the Kia Whiti Tonu programme for 2022 will be branded as Te Pūaha Talks. The talks will link into a broader engagement programme for Te Pūaha O Te Ako that highlights past, updated, and current reports and research that will build capability and knowledge for those working in the community and NGO sectors.
The initial programme for 2022 will be released in April. Each session will offer a detailed workbook as an ongoing resource and pre-reading will be provided ahead of each session to registered participants.
Ngā Tau Tuangahuru
Backing Pacific Success
In 2017, a team of Māori and Pacific researchers began talking with Māori and Pacific families about what ‘success’ looks like to them, and what gets in the way of that success. Funded by Foundation North, the Ngā Tau Tuangahuru study is exploring how to build an ecology of success around the hopes and dreams of Māori and Pacific families. The study was developed with five schools that were part of Foundation North's
This month we are releasing three reports that share the voices of 43 Pacific families and 78 Pacific students in Years 1-13. As well as findings on what success looks like for Pacific families and students and what connection to culture means for Pacific young people, we provide guidance for funders on how to invest in Pacific-defined success. See here for more on the study.
Climate change - Decarbonise our investments and operations
Effective action to address the causes of climate change continues to be a priority globally. Making progress is a challenge. The latest information from Statistics New Zealand on our greenhouse gas emissions, for example, shows emissions in 2019 showed no sustained reductions compared to 2005 levels, and that our glacier ice volumes are continuing to decrease.
So, what can our sector do to contribute to New Zealand achieving better climate outcomes? The Funders Commitment on Climate Action, developed by a group of the community trusts of Aotearoa, provides useful guidance. The seven commitments made by the trusts include a commitment to “take action to minimise the carbon footprint of our own operations” and “proactively address the risks and opportunities of the transition to a low carbon society in our investment strategies.” This is just one of the ways the Commitment suggests funders can help support a just transition to a low carbon society.
Other funders are invited to join the community trusts in this vital mahi. Details on the Funders Commitment on Climate Action are available here.