Foundation North
Welcome
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Closing
Part 2.
CEO's Report
Peter Tynan
Chief Executive
This year has been one of dealing with and dealing to uncertainty. We all find ourselves continually adapting and adjusting to a dynamic operating context.
As a community trust we have sailed our waka safely and steadfastly through turbulent waters alongside the waka of others.
We shared a landscape defined by change; Delta locked us down for longer than before, then Omicron brought sky-high case numbers. Demand for emergency relief and recovery support services was great, and I am proud that our streamlined processes could once again support community responses, especially those focused this year on driving up and delivering Covid-19 vaccinations.
Our role and focus have not changed; rather we have adapted and actively responded. We are working closely with communities and other funders to navigate this and figure it out together. This has meant being there to listen, understanding when organisations needed to pivot, and operating in a flexible way so that the intended impact still happens and is felt where it is needed most.
At a governance level we have journeyed on with new paddlers (50% of our Board were new Trustees in August 2021).
Our Trustees have connected well (in a totally virtual environment) and collaborated on key pieces of mahi:
- improved our grantmaking processes to lessen decision turnaround time
- renewed our approach to responsible investment and strengthened reporting
- updated the Foundation’s governance manual to incorporate our te Tiriti commitment
- worked collectively with sister community trusts on climate change action
At an operations level we have pulled together to navigate choppy seas and looked after each other.
Our vision motivates us to do our mahi, and as a team we drew heavily on our values as lockdown placed a mental and physical challenge on us all. The degree to which we demonstrate our values was also evident in the results of our bi-annual applicant survey, with high satisfaction levels recorded around our touchpoints and interactions.
Our internal COVID-19 Response Team helped us plan and respond to different alert levels, traffic lights, policies and frameworks – and above all acted to keep our communities and our people safe. This included delivering a quality experience for our first ever online annual public meeting in October 2021.
At a human level we navigate together as an organisation by staying connected, working closely with communities, adapting to change and not losing sight of our horizon.
I acknowledge the nurturing guidance of Hemi and Paula Pirihi who have journeyed with us on our internal Māori cultural competence programme, and thank all who have participated in and led our team Ako and wellbeing activities.