Spotlight on the projects

The website will soon have more stories about the groups being funded under MPEI, exploring in detail their vision and progress so far. Meanwhile, we reproduce here an article by the Trust's Chair, Ann Hartley, that was recently printed by the New Zealand Herald.

Traditional Values and Innovative Solutions

Ann Hartley, Chair, ASB Community Trust

In 2006, faced with the evidence of systemic failure and indications of a pending educational crisis, Trustees of the 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’ work, we have committed in excess of $10 million to the Māori and Pasifika Education Initiative (MPEI), which was launched in Auckland on November 30.

It is the end result of an ambitious and uncharted philanthropic journey in search of innovative proposals to address the serious problem of educational underachievement among Māori and Pacific Island youth in our communities. 

After a series of hui and fono held throughout the region it was clear that the solutions lay in the communities themselves, so MPEI has focused on community innovation, supporting ideas that have grown from grass-roots experience.  Over 300 written proposals were received from 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.

To begin with, we called on Māori and Pacific educational and community leaders to work together and develop the terms of reference. It was these people who came up with 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.”

After the Māori and Pacific reference groups had mapped out the initiative’s scope, some members agreed to join our trustees on committees that would assess the projects.

This was a major commitment of time and resources, so the caliber 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 went to the community in early 2008 to find the solutions.  We asked people to share their dreams with us and, after a series of hui and fono had been held throughout the region, the Trust received more than 300 written proposals. Thirty seven of those were short-listed and in November 2009 seven groups received full funding to begin implementing their visions.

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 to this initiative which includes high standards for success and a robust evaluation of their processes and results by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

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 process has been immensely challenging for ASB Community Trust. It has been an ambitious and uncharted philanthropic journey and we have learned to be open and willing to do things differently. We have also learned the importance of manākitanga (hospitality) and to embrace the opportunity to learn the protocols of respectful engagement. It has been this respect and appreciation of everyone’s contribution that has kept relationships intact through what has been a long and challenging journey.

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 to this initiative, which will include robust evaluation of the process and 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.

We will contribute to discussions on what to look for and encourage others to commit to innovative and strategic solutions that will allow these young people to fully engage in New Zealand society while developing the capacity and skills they will need to manage and grow their economic base.