Proactive Engagement

Our dedicated team of Engagement Advisors spend their time out and about with the communities of our rohe, bringing the Foundation to many different parts of Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau. Their role as our in-community kaimahi is to support groups and organisations to access the funding and services the Foundation offers, and to intentionally seek out community stakeholders and change agents, community-led initiatives and opportunities that address priority areas of shared interest.

For those new to our funding process, the journey starts well before a grant request is drafted and is grounded in conversations to get to know and understand a group and its kaupapa. Where there is eligibility, shared interest in impact and good alignment to our strategy, different funding pathways are explored, and our Advisors will stay the course to work with an organisation new to Foundation North to help get them ready to apply. The team continues alongside throughout the application process and ensures context around the application is provided to inform the Foundation’s decision processes.

We know that nothing beats meeting kanohi ki te kanohi (in person), at times and places that work for our busy community sector. Our Advisors held regular community information hui, or AWHI sessions, across the rohe during the year, with many held in areas not traditionally well-served by agencies and funders. These sessions provide an opportunity for Foundation North to awhi groups wherever they are in their funding journey.

Often our Engagement Team collaborate with other agencies on opportunities for hyper-local engagement such as the Hui Hub and ACE Aotearoa Pasifika Information Expos held in Waitākere last June. We also took out a stall to participate in the Big Gay Out in Auckland, and the Northland Pasifika Fusion Festival in Whangārei.

Supported by Foundation North and Auckland Council, the Kai Innovators Incubator has re-imagined a new future for South Auckland food systems through collaborative solutions anchored in Mātauranga Māori, and brought to life for community, by community.

This project brought together kai innovators from across South Auckland for a facilitated incubator process created and led by Alexanda Whitcombe and Anaru Ah Kew. Their aim was to engage and build a united network of kai leaders to create, trial, and implement innovative solutions that evolve the kai ecosystem in Tāmaki ki te Tonga toward a healthier, more sustainable and connected future for both food and people.

In November 2023, the Innovators hosted the Kai Innovators Mana Festival Showcase to display and celebrate seven social enterprises created through the incubator. Guests enjoyed zero-waste kai and kōrero as the Innovators shared the journey of their enterprise, from the very beginnings of an idea, right through to how the kaupapa will expand and grow, taking the community with it.