CE fortnightly message september 5

Kia ora Koutou,

I want to pay respects to Kiingi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, a man of great wisdom, patience, and love. An exemplary leader in times of conflict and difficulty. I also acknowledge his successor, his daughter, Kuīni Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō, and we wish her all the very best and our support as she navigates the weeks, months, and years ahead.

This year to date has seen some useful engagement between our members and the government via the Government and Philanthropy forums. The knowledge shared and networks of trust being built are valuable. If you are keen to participate in the future, please be in touch. The past month or so has also seen me engage with various Ministers of the current coalition government to build a more strategic relationship between government and philanthropy in NZ. There is much opportunity here. I hope the coming weeks will see some more action-oriented meetings up ahead, leading to a clearer signal of the future as the year draws to a close.

Last week, I got to hear from Nicola Willis with her Minister for Social Investment hat on. Clearly, a Minister with a clear sense of direction in this space and a bias for action. As you know, the government is in the process of setting up a Social Investment Fund. We have been engaged with the Social Investment Agency about this, and we have reached out directly to Minister Willis’ office for a meeting to discuss this. If done well, getting this SIF right could be a game-changing opportunity for NZ. In my view, if set up correctly, it can sustain beyond the ‘Beehive loop’—beyond the lifetime of this coalition, with cross-party agreement on its value to the community. Ultimately, of course, the sole judge of its value and impact will be the community itself. If any members would like to engage on this topic, please be in touch with me.

Lastly, I wanted to acknowledge the multiple years of service to PNZ and to the sector by Emma Wethey. She is leaving to take up a role in the public sector, and we wish her all the very best. PNZ is remodeling the research and policy functions, and in the next Giving Matters, I will provide more details on the exciting changes ahead. For now, I just wanted to tip my hat to Emma and her immense contribution. We’ll certainly miss her both personally and professionally.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Rahul Watson Govindan

CEO, Philanthropy New Zealand | Tōpūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa