Empowering Communities - Te whakamana i ngā hapori

Shifting power, community agency and the indigenisation of philanthropy were just some of the powerful themes at the Community Foundations of Aotearoa NZ conference Empowering Communities - Te whakamana i ngā hapori, in Ōtautahi Christchurch over the days of 21-22 October.

Barry Knight from the Global Fund for Community Foundations kicked off the conference by embracing the living vibrancy of community philanthropy, particularly with a global lens. Barry challenged Western-centric ways of thinking about ‘impact’ and that lifeless indicators – typically money- do not capture the crucial energy and empowerment of community and change.

Nick Deychakiwsky (Mott Foundation) and Larry McGill (Ambit 360 consulting) followed with a dive into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to empower community foundations work, along with examples from across the world, including shifts: from institutions to community, from social bankers to social change and from independent action to more coordinated impact, utilising the SDGs as a powerful driving framework for community led change.

The vibrancy and energy radiating from community philanthropy was captured in a series of ‘Innovation Sound Bites’ over two days, with subjects ranging from building your brand through powerful comms, understanding the ‘donor journey’, Gisborne’s inaugural ‘Sunrise Week’, corporate CSR programmes, harnessing the power of professional advisors and storytelling.

Concurrent sessions followed across day one exploring topic specific subjects such as shifting power in philanthropy and drawing donors closer to communities, operational sustainability, and creating a powerful community brand.

Ian Bird from Community Foundations Australia shared insightful perspectives of how community philanthropy has evolved across the world, including from his time as CEO at Community Foundations of Canada. Ian’s challenge to Aotearoa NZ was for us to grapple with those things that are deeply problematic in our communities; and that there are inherent tensions of being legacy organisations that must be ‘future keepers’: “As community leaders, what bold decisions might we need to make that are unpopular in the past or present?”

The day wrapped up with Alan Wills from Geyser Community Foundation honouring the great mahi of Annette Burgess for her 15 dedicated years of growing community across the regions of Rotorua and Taupō – ngā mihi nui Annette, our network sure is going to miss you!

The day ended with spontaneous sessions ‘In The Fishbowl’ with delegates sharing their key takeaways from day one – to the back drop of a goldfish countdown clock and under the promise of an exploding fish if they went over time!

Kōrero was rich throughout the day, including over shared kai at the conference dinner at one long extended whānau table in the unique location of The Tannery.

Day two dawned with some early breakfasts for our Chair and CEO networks and an insightful exploration of current investment markets including topics of sustainable investing with Helen Bullick from Craigs Investment Partners, as always such collaborators and supporters of the wider work of community foundations across the country.

The immense energy of Kate Cherrington and Kat Dawnier from the Centre for Social Impact followed, including exploring what mana-enhancing partnerships mean for community foundations, and what it means to shift authentically ‘From Santa to Service’: committing to exploring “who we are in service to”, being clear on our values and how we are showing up for our communities and deeply considering how we can ‘be both donor informed and community led’.

Two sets of concurrent sessions ran throughout the day and included a wide range of topics which included a deeper dive implementing the SDGs as a framework for funding, how philanthropy advising can empower both donors and communities and improving funding practices. The unique environment of community foundations governance was explored, along with emergency response planning and empowering the local charity sector with charity endowment funds.

Finally, the conference ended with a powerful challenge and reverberating message from Dr Hana O’Regan, challenging communities to understand the long-jagged tail of colonisation which continues to disempower and marginalise the indigenous people of this land. For community foundations, this means a crucial shared understanding that coloniality – of power, of knowledge, of being - perpetuates inequities and that we hold an important role of driving togetherness as community, with a shared commitment to advancing equity and justice. Thank you, Hana, for your powerful challenge, which reinforces to us that this collective mahi matters deeply in progressing a just society.

From the team at CFANZ, ngā mihi nui to all our member foundations and our sector partners, including Community Foundations Australia, Mott Foundation, the Centre for Social Impact and the Global Fund for Community Foundations for your energy, your joy and your commitment to building a thriving community philanthropy ecosystem rooted in equity and empowering communities from within - te whakamana i ngā hapori.

CFANZ also wishes to extend our gratitude to our conference supporters: Craigs Investment Partners, Fonterra, Trust Management, Aro Digital, BDO, Alliance Magazine, Salesforce, Gallagher and Forsyth Barr, along with our strategic partner The Tindall Foundation for your ongoing support for our kaupapa, ngā mihi nui.