First Foundation

Kōrero Connect ran across four nights in September, in Tāmaki Makaurau, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Ōtautahi and Ōtepoti.

Dr Genevieve O'Reilly facilitated "The Stories We Tell Ourselves: how values determine our True North".

The evening covered where our stories come from, including caregivers, culture and community. The self-belief cycle, where experience shapes belief and belief shapes behaviour, so the loop keeps proving itself right. Values as a way of navigating when the right choice isn't obvious. The difference between a value you chose and one you were taught. And rewriting the inner story, because things said to us when we were young are interpretations rather than truths.

These nights are about strengthening the mentor and scholar relationship, and that starts with each person understanding themselves.

Thank you to Genevieve, and to everyone who came along.

We were finalists in two categories at the 2degrees Auckland Central Business Awards, People's Choice and Excellence in Strategy. We didn’t take home either of them..

But we left feeling like the luckiest table in the room!

Around that table were two young Pasifika scholars, 2degrees Scholar Alana and Cameron Partners Scholar Saulala, both the first in their whānau to reach university.

Alumni Noah, Joshua, and michelle now on the First Foundation board, opening doors for the next generation. Mentors like prajesh who keep showing up. And our team, Kayla, Reece and Silvana, showing up every day for our rangatahi and each other.

And to everyone who voted for First Foundation for People’s Choice, thank you. Your support meant a lot.

We cheered on Renee Stuart, a First Foundation alumna, who took the stage and won Excellence in International Business for MOXX Brands, two years after winning Emerging Business at these same awards!

It was a glimpse of the ripple in motion.

A scholar becomes a graduate.
A graduate becomes a founder.
And one day, they become the person opening the door for someone else.

More than 1,200 rangatahi have come through First Foundation over 28 years, and tonight was a table full of proof that the ripple keeps moving.

Congratulations to every winner. And Renee, we couldn’t have been prouder to cheer you on. ❤️

Ngā mihi nui.

Auckland Foundation is the community foundation for Tāmaki Makaurau, connecting philanthropists with local causes that match their values.

Since 2011 they've linked eight philanthropists, families and trusts with 53 First Foundation scholars across the city. We were with them recently at Cordis for their community dinner on the theme of The Ripple Effect, exploring how one act of generosity keeps moving through a community for generations.

Auckland Foundation helps generosity find the right pathway. We help talented rangatahi make the most of that opportunity. With a memorandum of understanding now signed and a goal of 2000 scholars by 2030, both organisations are in this for the long haul.

Read more about the impact already unlocked: https://firstfoundation.org.nz/a-partnership-built-on-potential-first-foundation-and-auckland-foundation-formalise-over-a-decade-of-impact/

September is Gifts in Wills Month.

A Will is where you set out who receives what, who looks after your tamariki, and how you'd like to be farewelled. It's your voice after you're gone.

A First Foundation scholarship costs $7,000 a year, $28,000 across four years. A gift in your Will can fund one long after you're gone, and it doesn't need to be large to matter. You keep everything you have now, and your whānau still comes first.

Haven't made a Will yet? EveryWill and Footprint both let you write one online, free, in about 10 minutes.

Leave a gift behind that becomes somebody's beginning. Will you?

https://firstfoundation.org.nz/ways-to-give/leave-a-gift-in-your-will/

Three days left to vote. That's it.

We're finalists for People's Choice at the 2degrees Auckland Business Awards, and for 28 years we've backed rangatahi with big potential and not much in the way of resources. Most become the first in their whānau to reach university.

If you voted last round, ngā mihi, you're welcome to do it again 😁

If you haven't.. here's your chance!

Every vote puts these young people in front of more people who'll back them. 💙

Vote here: https://2daba.awardsplatform.com/entry/vote/WQgKdMav

Fifteen of our scholars went to On Being Bold's Dreaming Big this year, across all four events: The Beehive in Wellington, Deloitte House in Hamilton, the Fonterra Centre in Auckland, and the ANZ Centre in Ōtautahi Christchurch.

The people they got to hear from were the top of their fields. Jolie Hodson, CEO of Spark. Anna Palairet, Chief Operating Officer at Fonterra. Margie Apa, former Chief Executive of Te Whatu Ora and now a Future Director on the Fisher & Paykel Healthcare board. Dame Joan Withers, who sits on the boards of Origin, ANZ and Sky TV. Cathy Quinn, Chair of Tourism Holdings and a director of Fletcher Building and Fonterra. Alison Gerry, Chair of Infratil and a director of ANZ Group and Air New Zealand. Hon Nicola Willis in Auckland and Hon Louise Upston in Wellington.

The sessions themselves were practical: how to get an interview, how to deal with imposter syndrome, how to manage money and start investing, how to build a personal brand online.

For rangatahi who are the first in their whānau heading to university, being in that room and getting to ask those women a direct question is worth a lot.

Thanks to On Being Bold for having our scholars along.