What we do
We work alongside iwi, community organisations, local government, and public agencies to improve social wellbeing outcomes for whānau across Tairāwhiti. Our role is not to deliver services directly, but to strengthen the social sector system itself.
We do this by identifying barriers that prevent whānau needs from being met, generating evidence and insights grounded in whānau voice, and supporting collective action that leads to meaningful and lasting change.
This approach helps ensure services and resources are better aligned, more effective, and responsive to local needs. See our strategic plan for more details.
We bring people together across organisations and sectors to build shared understanding of what is working, where the system is failing, and what needs to change.
Our work supports more connected decision-making, clearer roles, and stronger alignment across the social sector.
We focus on locally led solutions that reflect the realities, strengths, and aspirations of whānau in Tairāwhiti.
By combining lived experience, data, and system insights, we support practical changes to policy, commissioning, and service design so that systems work better for whānau in our place.
Our focus areas
Our focus areas reflect key challenges facing whānau in Tairāwhiti. In each area, we work with partners to understand what is happening on the ground, identify system barriers, and support solutions that are evidence-informed and locally led.
Kaiurungi (Navigator Programme)
The Kaiurungi (Navigator) programme was a five-year, evidence-based prototype delivered through kaiurungi embedded within iwi and community organisations, supported by Manaaki Coaches and Practice Leads.
Kaiurungi worked alongside whānau with complex needs, taking a flexible, whānau-led approach to navigating services and responding to whānau priorities. Manaaki Coaches worked alongside kaiurungi to support practice, build capability, and apply systems improvement methods.
Together, kaiurungi and coaches captured whānau voice and real-time information about how social service systems were performing, generating robust evidence about where and how system barriers prevent whānau needs from being met.
