Proactive Engagement

Through the year we enjoyed the opportunity to do this kanohi ki te kanohi and in the digital spaces that COVID-19 made the ‘new norm’. Even before COVID-19, social media channels were an important tool for Foundation North to connect with community groups. Late 2019, we launched fortnightly “Watch Parties”, 30-minute live videos via Facebook, as a means of better engaging with our Pacific communities. Fast forward to March 2020 and a nationwide lockdown, a world where face-to-face was no longer possible. We realised our Watch Parties presented an opportunity to keep all our communities informed throughout the lockdown period, while also listening to their needs and sharing opportunities available to them. Thanks to video conferencing tools, we were able to take our lockdown watch parties a step further and invite presenters and guests to co-host from the comfort of their own homes. We also created information videos, “From Our Bubble To Yours”, to reassure communities that we were still operating, making grants in line with our strategy and taking a flexible approach to grantees’ needs in the ‘new normal’.

The COVID-19 pandemic thrust food insecurity into the spotlight, and with it issues of equitable food distribution and food nutrition. Foundation North was proud to support and actively contribute to A.Social Impact Summit 2020 ‘Kai’, a summit on Food Sovereignty, Food Security and the Food System held in late November 2020. Conceived and co-led by The Good Fale and Rākau Tautoko, the free 3-day summit in Panmure brought together representatives from government agencies, funders, community development organisations and grass-roots initiatives, especially hyper-local ones having impact in South Auckland. It was a great opportunity for us to connect and learn from those working to redress the imbalances around kai.

Learning to engage more effectively biculturally has been a key learning for us through our G.I.F.T (Gulf Innovation Fund Together) initiative. Our own learning experience has shown that with intentionality and a shift in mindsets, bicultural ways of working bring about the kinds of engagement that lead to better relationships.

Based on a framework developed to support Foundation North’s Catalysts for Change programme, our G.I.F.T team has evolved Guidelines of Ethical Approaches to Engage in Relationships with Māori to deepen understanding of what Māori seek in order to establish a relationship. These principles of engagement have been created, nurtured and applied through time and by generations. The team has sought the whakaaro of kaumātua to enable us to use them and share them here.

G.I.F.T has also been compiling a list of providers of Te Tiriti, tikanga and te reo training/wānanga for grantees or potential grantees who would like to further their knowledge so they can build stronger relationships with mana whenua.