Innovative solutions  

22/12/09

Traditional Values and Innovative Solutions

By Ann Hartley, Chair, ASB Community Trust

Following the launch of the seven projects to be funded under the Trust's Māori and Pasifika Education Initiative, the New Zealand Herald published an opinion piece from Trust Chair Ann Hartley. The article is reproduced here.

In 2006, faced with overwhelming evidence that educational success continues to evade so many young Māori and Pacific Islanders, Trustees of ASB Community Trust saw an opportunity to make a difference with funds which were not tagged to infrastructure or existing projects, funds that could instead be focussed on innovation.

Now, after three years of work, we have committed in excess of $10 million to the Māori and Pasifika Education Initiative (MPEI), which supports educational intervention that will significantly lift Māori and Pasifika educational outcomes over the next five years. MPEI was launched in Auckland on November 30.

This historic initiative has been an ambitious and uncharted philanthropic journey in search of innovative proposals to address the serious problem of educational underachievement. 

After a series of hui and fono throughout the region it was clear that solutions lay in the community, so MPEI has focused on community innovation, supporting ideas that have grown from grass-roots experience.  We received over 300 written proposals from groups in Auckland and Northland, with seven groups receiving funding.

The lively presentations by applicants convinced us that, given the opportunity and resources, Māori and Pacific Island communities will generate and lead their own solutions. Their resounding message was ‘we think we can take charge of this problem and turn things around for our people – but we need to do it our way’.

The full list of groups is now on the www.initiative.org.nz website, but what is important to note about these fledgling initiatives is that people with passion and vision were already working on this problem before the Trust became involved. Now, fully funded by the Trust for the next five years, they have the resources to turn their vision into reality.

The journey has been guided by Māori and Pacific educational and community leaders who joined us to develop the terms of reference for the MPEI. Later, key individuals agreed to join our trustees on committees that would assess the projects.

This was a major commitment of time and resources, so the calibre of the people this initiative was able to attract speaks volumes. Although they spoke as individuals, their professional backgrounds and mana have added credibility at both an educational and community level.

On the Māori selection committee we had MP Kelvin Davis, Auckland University’s Dr Manuka Henare, Dr Elizabeth McKinley and Rangimarie Hunia, Education 4 Enterprise Director Frank Leadley and ASB Community Trust Trustees Sr Mary Foy, Waitai Petera, Kevin Prime and Kristen Kohere-Soutar.

On the Pacific selection committee were Unitec’s Linda Aumua, MSD’s Mokauina Fuemana-Ngaro, MoE’s Ezra Schuster, educational consultants Faafua Leavasa-Tautolo and Lili Tuioti, who joined Trustees Sr Mary Foy, Soana Pamaka, Jenny Kirk and Wilmason Jensen.

Together we developed MPEI’s powerful guiding vision: ‘Mā tātou ano tātou e kōrero’ (we speak for ourselves). I think the words of Ngati Hine’s Kevin Prime, my predecessor as Chair of ASB Community Trust,  best explain the powerful significance of that vision:

“Why is it so important that we speak for ourselves? For so many years others have been speaking for us, knowing what was good for us, making decisions for us. But we do not need others to speak for us; we can speak for ourselves. We know what is good for us and we are capable of making our own decisions.”

As philanthropists, we know that becoming agents of change is a slow process and from its earliest days MPEI was built on the saying ‘Titiro atu ki nga taumata o te moana’ (look to the distant horizon of the sea). As a result, we have promised long-term commitment  which includes robust evaluation of the groups’ results by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

It’s already clear that educational underachievement is unlikely to be overcome by a single silver bullet, but rather by a number of magic bullets. There will continue to be lessons learned from MPEI and we are committed to sharing both what works and what does not.

As the new chair of the Trust, I am delighted to assume my post with the launch of such a historic initiative in this country. I salute my predecessor, Kevin Prime, for his leadership and the Board members and staff of the Trust in bringing it to life.

The process has been immensely challenging for ASB Community Trust and we have learned a lot along the way.  We learned to be open and willing to do things differently. We learned the importance of manākitanga (hospitality) and embraced the opportunity to learn the protocols of respectful engagement, as well as appreciation for everyone’s contribution that forms and protects our relationships with the communities we serve.

At the dawn of a new decade, the ASB Community Trust is aware of its leading role as an agent of change and development as well as thought leadership, and a principal investor in our society and physical environments.

Our goal is to build upon the Trust’s traditional roles while at the same time, contributing to strategic discussions of policy, innovation, and sustainable solutions that allow everyone in our communities to fully engage in New Zealand society.

Ann Hartley
Chair, ASB Community Trust