Ripples of change
The Women’s Fund is a group creating a community dedicated to empowering other women and whānau in the Western Bay of Plenty. Co-founder Hayley Nelson talks to UNO about how it came to be, and how being empowered as a child by the strongest woman she knew led her to where she is today.
The Women’s Fund is a group creating a community dedicated to empowering other women and whānau in the Western Bay of Plenty. Co-founder Hayley Nelson talks to UNO about how it came to be, and how being empowered as a child by the strongest woman she knew led her to where she is today.
WORDS Hayley Barnett
PHOTOS Giselle Brosnahan + Salina Galvan
On the eve of Mother’s Day earlier this year, Hayley Nelson stepped up to the podium to speak at the Western Bay of Plenty Women’s Fund breakfast held in Tauranga. She stunned everyone with her own mother’s tragic story in which she battled mental illness, before succumbing to it by taking her own life.
Hayley became her mother’s primary caregiver at the age of 13, after a car accident left her injured – something Hayley understood as a cry for help. She learned to take care of not just her ill and injured mother, who suffered from bipolar affective disorder and post-natal depression, but also her three brothers and their home, all while attending high school.
Somehow, amidst the chaos of her life, Hayley managed to travel the world at just 16 years old, before returning to study and work for a number of major banks in client-facing and leadership roles. Tragically, her mother committed suicide when Hayley was 24 years old. But despite this, her own resilience, Hayley says, is down to being raised by this “superhero mum” who did all she could with the limited resources she had to hand, while struggling to maintain her mental health.
Today Hayley is the general manager of Craigs Investment Partners in Tauranga, and the co-founder of the WBOP Women’s Fund, made up of influential local women looking to give back to their community by helping other women in need.
“When I think about why I wanted to give back, I reflect on that 13-year-old,” says Hayley. “I wondered how we could look after those children in similar situations, with mothers suffering from something they know nothing about. I think of my brothers, of the trauma they’ve been through, and I feel for the seven-year-old, or that 10-year-old, or that 19-year-old who later lost his mum and didn’t even understand her illness. Kids any age can be really confused by people’s actions.”
It’s a situation that far too many families face, but today the amount of resources and information available is far greater than it was when Hayley was growing up. Her aim is to tap into that and become a connector between charities and those who want to help.
Together with her long-time friend Keryn Jarvis, she started building the Women’s Network as a way to access philanthropic groups and businesses, to raise funds and then give those funds to charities that help women, girls and whānau in need.
“In the beginning, a Giving Circle felt like a good way of achieving that,” explains Hayley. “But then we thought, actually, let’s go bigger. There’s lots of different people doing amazing work and we know that it’s hard to raise funds at the moment. So we thought, hey, let’s utilise our work, our contacts, and boost other organisations in the process. That’s really what it’s about – just helping people to help others.”
Hayley was inspired by the likes of the late Chloe Wright, who built the Bethlehem Birthing Centre and Kids Start. “Something I remember hearing from her was around the importance of maternal wellbeing in mothers,” says Hayley. “She knew something needed to be done and she was trying to do all she could to help in that space. It’s like all these things have been pointing me towards this path, saying, this is something you need to do to give back in some way, whether it’s financial or inspirational.”
It turns out it was both. Hayley and Keryn began talking with the Acorn Foundation, who at the time was represented by Emily Golding. Frances Mole has since taken her position.
“And then I thought, right, anything that happens in this town Anne Pankhurst knows about or wants to be involved in. So I reached out to the Tauranga Business Chamber, who Anne was with at the time.
“Then Anne was keen to have a lawyer on board,” Hayley continues. “Both of us knew Christie McGregor from Copeland Ashcroft Workplace Lawyers quite well and we knew she was involved with the Tautoko Mai Sexual Harm Support, which focuses on sexual assault awareness. And I wanted to get a youth voice in there as well, which is really important. So I reached out to Priority One, and Avah Smith put her hand up. She was one of the young female leaders in their INSTEP programme. She’s been a delight. It’s such a good group.”
Together the group helps to organise fundraisers through their member’s businesses, as well as getting the word out through their respective contacts and organising their own events throughout the year. Next Mother’s Day, the WBOP Women’s Fund will announce the charities their members have nominated, voted for and donated to. “But we don’t want to become an events company,” cautions Hayley. “Our focus is on connection.”
So how did she come to be such a master connector herself, I ask. “I think my background has something to do with it,” she says. “Changing schools and moving towns, I had to learn to meet people. Now I’m not afraid to talk to anybody, or introduce people because if you don’t, you don’t get to meet anybody and you end up sitting in the corner on your own.”
It seems to be Hayley’s tenacity and resilience which has led her down this path – something she knows she’s lucky to have. But she also knows it takes more than resilience to get through tough times. It also takes support from others. “I remember in the 1980s my grandmother took me to the Schizophrenia Fellowship – it was the only place to get information on mental health and wellbeing – so that I could understand a little bit around what was happening with my mum. That was all that Nana knew she could do. But it was a really helpful thing for me. I became more curious, more compassionate and understanding.”
That’s what Hayley hopes to do for these charities through the Women’s Fund – reach out and do the best she can.
Through the lens of giving
Colour, candour and compassion are three hallmarks of the stunning images featured in Acorn Foundation’s recent 20th birthday commemorative photographic exhibition, presented in partnership with UNO.
Colour, candour and compassion are three hallmarks of the stunning images featured in Acorn Foundation’s recent 20th birthday commemorative photographic exhibition, presented in partnership with UNO Magazine
Photos Alan Gibson
Shifting the focus to those deserving of support has always been at the forefront of Acorn Foundation’s mahi. Their recent 20th birthday celebration was true to form, showcasing the extraordinary generosity of Acorn’s donors and the lasting impact of their gifts on the local community. In partnership with UNO and our award-winning photographer, Alan Gibson, a stunning photographic exhibition was unveiled in the heart of Tauranga on April 4.
The exhibition, Enduring Connections, featured 18 of the more than 290 charitable groups in the Western Bay of Plenty who have received funding from Acorn. Spanning organisations focussed on the arts, environment, youth, food insecurity, homelessness, health, diversity and more, these images acknowledge in a visually impactful way the enduring difference Acorn donors seek to make, and the enduring support Acorn is then able to extend to the region.
The Acorn Foundation was established back in 2003 by their inaugural chair, Bill Holland, with the support of a group of committed trustees. Acorn is now one of 17 community foundations in New Zealand that use a smarter giving model that involves pooling and collectively investing donors’ funds. The capital in the fund remains intact, while a portion of the income is distributed annually to the local community. Using this method means that Acorn’s donors can support causes close to their hearts, forever.
The Edna Brown Fund was Acorn’s first donation. Upon Edna’s death in 2001, she left $67,000 for the benefit of the community. When Acorn was founded two years later, her trustees thought that the foundation would be the perfect place for Edna’s gift. After 20 years, Acorn has given away more than $89,000 from Edna’s fund to support local charitable organisations. Her fund value is now $91,000, and is a perfect example of the community foundation model. The Acorn team know that Edna would be absolutely thrilled.
In 2023, over 430 donor funds – and more than 600 donors overall – support the community in all sorts of ways. Thanks to these generous donors, Acorn has now reached $60 million in funds under management that are invested with Craigs Investment Partners. More than $13 million overall has been distributed to nearly 300 worthy causes in the Western Bay of Plenty and other areas important to Acorn’s donors.
The Acorn team has a tremendous belief in the power of community foundations and the enduring difference that Acorn can make in this region. Understanding that overseas community foundations are over 100 years old, they know that Acorn’s story is just beginning.
A will to give
A will to give
The Acorn Foundation hands over millions every year to deserving community projects. But, what sets them apart from many other charities, is that they’ve succeeded in creating an innovative way to ensure their precious donors’ money is a gift that keeps on giving.
The Acorn Foundation hands over millions every year to deserving community projects. But, what sets them apart from many other charities, is that they’ve succeeded in creating an innovative way to ensure their precious donors’ money is a gift that keeps on giving.
Words Nicky Adams / Photos supplied
Established 19 years ago, the Acorn Foundation may have started as a seed of an idea, but fast forward to now, and it’s grown into a whopping, solid oak. As with anything, it’s important to be innovative to succeed, and whilst Acorn is often known as the charity that many people donate to via their will, corporate giving is a vital part of the donation system. It is through this avenue that Farmer Autovillage, to celebrate its 30th anniversary, has chosen to support the Acorn Foundation. The Farmer Autovillage programme is a scholarship aimed at helping school leavers put funds towards tertiary education to be run at Mount Maunganui, Papamoa and Te Puke colleges, and implemented for the first time this year.
As a community organisation, Acorn Foundation is based upon the concept of place-based giving. CEO Lori Luke explains: “The way Acorn is different is the whole idea of the perpetuity model – our capital is invested – Craigs is our partner, and what we distribute is a percentage of the returns. That makes us different from a standard charity that’s raising money on an annual basis. The perpetuity model is a powerful one.” Essentially this is a way of donating to your community via a charity that invests the funds on your behalf. The dividends are then passed on to the charities of your choice, meaning that it’s not just donors that have grown over the years, but also the funds – unbelievably, there is currently almost $60 million under management.
Lori Luke continues: “We’ve grown really rapidly. Historically, we were always known as the organisation that gifts in a will – that’s still our primary business – but there’s a lot more living giving now, and all sorts of other ways to do it, such as small groups and corporate giving, which is how Farmer Autovillage came to us.”
While primarily centred on Western Bay of Plenty, Acorn does help donors nationally. Indeed, as well as other scholarships and awards, it distributes the prestigious Jann Medlicott prize for fiction. However, it’s the local stories that resonate the most, such as that of The Eva Trowbridge Scholarship, says Lori. “Eva left money locally to support adult learners – that’s been going for 15 years – Eva was a cleaner at the hospital and saved her coins and those coins have helped 15 women finish school. The one thing that a lot of people think is that you must be very wealthy to give back to a community. To be honest most of our donors are very humble people who just want to make a difference.”
With Acorn, everyone chooses what they want to support – some will leave their money unrestricted, but about 60 % of the money is tagged which means either specific charities or a field of interest like animals or the environment can be supported. “We have an anonymous donor who donates swimming lessons because he lost a child at age four to a drowning accident, so he now pays for two or three entire schools to get swimming lessons.” Another inspirational donation comes via a gift from the Roy and Mary McGowan estate, which has enabled the launch of a Vital Signs Youth Report. “They didn’t have children of their own but had a huge interest in the wellbeing of young people. We have a big initiative in the youth space at the moment. That will be a strong focus – the idea of helping young people in this region to live lives that they value and smoothing the path to adulthood.”
However, Lori points out that over the last six or seven years, the focus has moved to living giving, so that donors can give money while they’re alive “that way they can see where it’s going and who its helping – and they get a tax credit!” With 99% of the money remaining within the charity, the amount of work from volunteers and the team is incredible. Lori is herself from a business background, and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it all. “I’m at a point in my life where giving something back is tremendously personally beneficial so it’s a fantastic job. All of us involved are very privileged because we really feel like we can make a difference. Over the years heaps of community people have put their hands up to help Acorn succeed.”
And succeed it certainly has – with Acorn seeing some important milestones over the last couple of years – it has given to more than 200 causes, passed the $50million mark in funds under management, this year distributed $2million for the first time, and given $10million in total over the life of the foundation. That’s one mighty Acorn all right.