Inclusion Summit July 2022 - #InclusionSummit - Centre for Sustainable Finance
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Inclusion Summit
July 2022
#InclusionSummit
Purpose and principles
On Friday 1 July, 2022 at the Novotel, Auckland Airport, Toitū Tahua convened an Inclusion Summit with attendees from Māori/Iwi organisations,
corporates, community organisations and government/regulators. The purpose of this hui was to create a space for people working with communities
and those with lived experience to share in a safe and supportive environment and, through our collective strength, consider new models to reduce
barriers to people to living independently, with access to the services they need.
We challenged ourselves to be honest about what we’re doing and what we could do, and to find the courage needed to solve the problems at hand.
The whakataukī that guided the design of the summit is:
Kotahi te aho ka whati; ki te kāpuia e kore e whati.
One strand of flax is easy to break, but many strands together will stand strong – King Tāwhiao.
We challenged ourselves to be:
Learn more about
Extraordinary – Doing the extra to transform our ordinary Toitū Tahua: Centre
for Sustainable
Responsible – Getting the response of the able – to act Finance in this video
Whānau are at the core of what we do, how we act.
Bringing together the best of us, open to change for the collective great.
Summit Steering Group
Fleur Howard Fonteyn Moses-Te Kani Helen Tua
Chief Executive, Good Shepherd Ngati Porou, Ngati Maniapoto, Ngai Tahu, Tuhoe Community & Sustainability, Mercury
New Zealand
Head of Māori, Iwi, Diversity and Inclusion,
Westpac New Zealand
John McCarthy Martin King
Manager, The Tindall Foundation General Manager, Customer Assist
Bank of New Zealand
Tēnā koe, Talofa Lava, Welcome
Facilitators: Judy Whiteman and Kaye-Maree Dunn
Kaye-Maree Dunn opened with a karakia.
John McCarthy and Fonteyn Moses-Te Kani set the
scene for the day.
“Today isn’t just about how to address household
financial vulnerability and debt; it’s about how we
might create a financial system that affords
everyone independence.”
- John
“The system’s broken, not our whānau, not our
people, not our community.”
- Fonteyn
Timeline/whakapapa We guided the room through a visual timeline, from He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga/Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes in 1835 up until today. This gave us the opportunity to acknowledge moments in history that have led to our current state of social inequity, as well as highlight examples of past, present and ongoing initiatives and cross-sector efforts to support communities’ access to essential services.
Weaving our stands together
To bring our guiding whakataukī to life,
Shelley Bell and Toa Mafileo wove native
Harakeke/Flax throughout the day,
representing the amalgamation of the cross-
sector insights and the strength of the
collective.
“Kotahi te aho ka whati;
ki te kāpuia e kore e whati.”
One strand of flax is easy to break, but
many strands together will stand strong
– King Tāwhiao
Stories
To be guided by stories and human experiences, we set up
the day to hear from individuals representing different
layers in society:
1. Whānau
2. Practitioner / community organisation
3. Iwi
4. Industry
As attendees listened to each speaker and their story, we
asked them to bring the mindset of a researcher and
investigator. Guided by questions, they captured their
thoughts on post-it notes for us to collate.
Questions to reflect on included:
• What challenges did the speaker face?
• What experiences did they encounter along the way?
• Can you see/hear/feel/identify any system issue? What
can be done here?
• Any areas where you can see opportunity for change?
Māhera Maihi
Māhera Maihi from Tāmaki Makaurau
shared her experience growing up as one
of 11 children facing financial exclusion
and what led to her starting her own youth
organisation, Mā Te Huruhuru.
“No matter where I worked there were
gaps - people not strong enough,
courageous enough; iwi dynamics,
government dynamics, so I stepped out
during Covid and started my own youth
organisation.
– Māhera
Insights from participants (not exhaustive): - We need equitable financial literacy for whānau and in schools to enable financial freedom - Ensure the system is transparent enough to enable participation and choice for all whānau. For example, point out when could borrow more; someone whose job it is explain T&Cs in ways that customer understands – could a conversation replace forms? - System boundaries shut down stories and pathways – there needs to be more flexibility to allow whānau to be empowered and supported - The credit reporting system shouldn’t mean people lose access to essential services – these are universal rights - As individuals, we need to reflect on what power we have to change things within our corporate organisations - A lack of trust in institutions can lead to negative outcomes and financial exclusion - By using our influence within our corporate organisations, we can squash discrimination that exists in the way systems are designed - Risk aversion is built into financial organisations – good ideas get squashed by lawyers
Nicola Eccleton, Good Shepherd NZ
Nicola Eccleton, Manager of Social
Inclusion at Good Shepherd, then shared
case studies of the impacts of an income
shock (such as a job loss), chronically low
income, and the financial impact of family
violence, on whānau in Aotearoa.
“How do we support the transition
[between jobs]? How do we change the
narrative of shame? How do we get on to the
debt earlier?
– NicolaInsights from participants (not exhaustive): - If we can eliminate the element of shame very early, then debt can be addressed sooner - How might we we regulate and pre-empt irresponsible lending practices and products that lead to further debt, i.e., ‘buy now, pay later’ platforms? - We need to remove the administrative burden on whānau reaching out for support - Collaboration is key to provide holistic support for those who suffer economic harm - Can we give corporate staff "humanity literacy” and the training to connect people to support services? - What mana-enhancing practices can we employ? - Can we increase not only financial literacy, but legal literacy to allow whānau to better understand the conditions of lending? - The system judges people for what is inherently unpredictable. How can we design it with humans at the centre? - People under chronic stress often live moment to moment, ignore bills, and are less able to analyse complex information, creatively problem-solve and think long-term – yet the system expects this
Helen Tua, Mercury
Helen Tua, a Community and Sustainability
Leader from Mercury Energy shared the
power company’s early-stage initiative
‘Home Sweet Home’, a collaboration
between Mercury, other essential service
providers and community organisations, to
support whānau.
“The system is not a system. The system is
people. The corporate brand we hide behind
– it’s not a brand, it’s you. If you don’t want
to do that job, move out of the way and let
someone else do it so they can make a
difference. We are those threads that can
come together and make a difference.”
– HelenInsights from participants (not exhaustive): - Organisations are made up of individuals: if you have autonomy and responsibility, you can be the challenger within your organisation. That gives you the ability to go out and liaise directly with people in the communities - find out what their needs are and design solutions together - Partnerships that reflect organisations that can make a difference, serve the whole person - Collaborating to help consumers doesn’t automatically mean corporates are being ‘anti-competitive’ - check with the regulator - There is value in shared initiatives where organisations have aligned kaupapa - Human connection between community groups, iwi and corporates is vital for collaboration - Can we share stories of whānau dealing with hardship with executive leadership, to make solving these issues a priority for them? - Can we have a nationwide platform and initiative like Mercury’s “Home Sweet Home”?
Waikato Tainui
Marae Tukere (COO) and Sheree Ryan
(CFO) from Waikato Tainui joined us
virtually to share their iwi story about
looking after generations of whānau.
“Our financial investments starts with our
values…That way they are not solely based
around financial returns, but also the
wellbeing and prosperity of our people, our
culture and our environment.”
– MaraeInsights from participants (not exhaustive): - There is so much value in long-term, intergenerational planning, vs the 3-5 year cycles that corporates have - Self sufficiency and self-determination is empowering for communities - How might we focus on leaving a legacy with love and leadership at the core? - Pākehā governance structures aren’t always the right fit. Systems are often set up for communities rather than with or by them - There is value in working to balance long-term needs with immediate needs - We can learn from self-organisation within iwi, hapu and Te Ao Māori practices - Strong leadership and capital catalyses prosperity for communities
Ciara Sterling, Thriving Communities Partnership
Ciara Sterling, CEO of Thriving Communities
Partnership in Australia (TCP), presented as a case
study. TCP is a cross-sector model that works to
create deeper awareness across communities,
organisations and government. They’re piloting a
One Stop One Story Hub – a digital platform
connecting people to support through a single-entry
point.
“Imagine if we put the human in the centre and
brought the services to them? We design only ever
with people not for them. There always has to be the
human at the centre, to be able to be participating
in the choices.”
– CiaraWeaving the strands together
Participants reflected on all the presentations from the
day and began to answer:
What themes/possible solutions are starting to emerge?
What is needed to go forward to design a better approach
to responding to individuals and households facing
financial hardship?
What is needed to go forward to design a better approach
to co-ordination between service providers responding
to individuals and households dealing with financial
hardship?
What would success look like? What are some suggested
next steps?
What would an Aotearoa-style cross-sector partnership
look like?
What role are you willing to play in this?So what? Now what? Ideas for Action
1. Test an Aotearoa-style collaboration similar to the ‘One Stop One 8. Enable corporates to re-evaluate their priorities and approaches
Story Hub’ from Thriving Communities Partnership 9. Host a CEO/executive forum to empower leadership teams to listen
2. Ensure people only have to tell their story once and are believed to whānau
3. Get behind Mercury’s ‘Home Sweet Home’ initiative to scale and 10. Map the ecosystem of initiatives – what’s already happening?
expand 11. Map the room to continue discussion started today – ensure each
4. Utilise Toitū Tahua: Centre for Sustainable finance to drive next attendee connects with at least one person following the Summit
steps 12. Celebrate and empower more wāhine into leadership
5. Build and resource a working group Summit to drive an initiative 13. Advocate for a fair electricity price (similar to that which exists in
forward, ensuring community participation is accessible and Australia)
equitable 14. Get behind initiatives like Here To Help U
6. Communities and community organisations already have the 15. Upskill corporates in ‘humanitarian literacy’ and build their capability
solutions and relationships needed – corporates could fund them to to responding to crises such as family violence
deliver those solutions 16. Set up a shared directory of support for whānau facing financial
7. Relationships of trust are key; when corporates aren’t trusted, they hardship
could partner with community organisations to better serve needs of
excluded communitiesSo what? Now what? Key considerations v Ensure corporates believe whānau stories and remove the v Start small with a narrow focus to test a ‘proof of concept’ administration burden (‘prove it’ form-filling) required when they reach v What would a Tiriti-based financial system look like? out to corporates v Success looks like whānau/customer/user/human telling their own v How do we in the room take focused roles? story in their own way to inform services (listen and talk first; the v Understand systems change takes years; adjust expectations for paper-work can come later) results accordingly v Look at challenges through the person’s lens and change a service v Explore different solutions for different communities and geographies - providers’ response accordingly a national approach won’t be suitable for all regions v Include government closely in development of solutions v Solutions must be mana-enhancing, remove shame and judgement, whānau/people-centric, and co-designed with trust at forefront rather than risk
So what, now what?
From left: Helen Tua, Martin King, Fleur Howard, Sir Stephen Tindall, John McCarthy.
In absentia: Fonteyn Moses-Te Kani
After parting words from both Sir Stephen Tindall and Fleur Howard,
our Steering Committee received the kono (woven basket) with the
hundreds of insights and stories captured on Post-it notes from
throughout the day. What will we do with these?
Toitū Tahua will…
1 – Provide a space for connection
We invite you to join our community to continue your own
collaboration and connections
2 – Create opportunities to share stories
We will develop an engagement plan that enables whānau
and community organisations to keep telling their stories to
corporates. Celebrate and give visibility to the good work
organisations are already doing
3 – Instigate a co-design process
We will join forces with summit participants to support
further exploration and co-design of an Aotearoa NZ
partnership that has clear rules of engagement and draws
upon initiatives like Thriving Communities Partnership and
Mercury's 'Home Sweet Home’Graphic illustration of the day – timeline/whakapapa
Mahera and Nicola’s stories
Helen and Waikato Tainui story
The call to action
Mā te wā
Participating organisations
Thank you to the following participating organisations:
(a-z)
Age Concern Good Shepherd New Zealand Te Runanga-Ā-Iwi-Ō-Ngāpuhi
ANZ New Zealand Hoani Waititi Marae Te Runanganui O Ngati Porou
ASB Bank INSPIRE Te Rūnanga O Ngāi Tahu
Auckland City Mission InternetNZ Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa
Auckland University of Technology Kāinga Ora - Homes & Communities The Pride Project
Banking Ombudsman Scheme Kootuitui ki Papakura The Salvation Army
Bank of New Zealand Māori Women’s Welfare League The Tindall Foundation
Bay Trust Massey University of New Zealand Thriving Communities Partnership
Catholic Caring Foundation Mercury Energy Trust Waikato
Christians Against Poverty Meridian Energy Turuki Health Care
Commerce Commission Money Sweetspot Women's Refuge
Community Waitakere Ngā Tāngata Microfinance Spark New Zealand
Contact Energy Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Suncorp
Debt Fix Reserve Bank of New Zealand Utilities Disputes
Electricity Retailers’ Association NZ Safeguarding Adults Trust Vaiola Pacific Island Budgeting
Failoa Famili Sustainable Business Council Vodafone New Zealand
FinCap Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission Vaka Tautua
Financial Services Federation Telecommunications Dispute Resolution VOYCE - Whakarongo Mai
Genesis Energy Te Pai Roa Tika Water Utilities Association
Westpac New Zealand
If you would like to learn more about this work or have an interest in being involved, please contact us via connect@sustainablefinance.nzThank you. #InclusionSummit
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