Mokopuna and Whānau-led Change
Kia ora e te whānau,
We hope you are all settling back into the mahi wherever you are across the motu, nourished and rested after a long summer, and ready to focus on what matters most for the flourishing of our mokopuna.
In 2026, Child Rich Communities is supporting our Learning Cluster sites to continue co-learning and deepening our collective understanding of what it takes to create positive change for whānau, rangatahi and tamariki. Through shared stories, reflection and practice-based learning, we’ll keep exploring how communities can move decision-making closer to whānau, grow local leadership, and support wellbeing in ways grounded in place and relationships.
This year also marks an important milestone as we begin to wrap up this chapter of Child Rich Communities in June. Since 2015, the kaupapa has grown through partnerships, shared learning and community-led action, from Bright Spots and national hui to webinars, regional gatherings and our recent Learning Cluster journey. Over the coming months we’ll be sharing reflections and key learnings from this incredible journey. If you or your community are interested in carrying this kaupapa forward, we would love to hear from you.
– Louise Petzold, Child Rich Communities Project lead – March 2026
Strategy, impact and Te Tiriti in action – Feb 2026
Kia ora e te whānau,
One of the things I value most about the Powerdigm network is the depth of experience, relationships, and care our Associates bring to their work across the sector. Every day, they are building meaningful connections, supporting organisations to navigate complex challenges, and helping translate big system shifts into practical, locally grounded action.
Across our current mahi, we are working alongside partners who are rethinking how strategy, impact, and accountability come together in practice. This includes supporting organisations to strengthen evidence and learning approaches, build Te Tiriti capability, and design ways of working that enable relational, community-led outcomes over the long term.
I am looking forward to continuing these conversations at the Philanthropy New Zealand Conference, where I will be co-presenting sessions on elevating community impact and strengthening how we gather and use data in ways that support learning as well as accountability. If you are attending, please do come and say hello.
– Donna Provoost, Powerdigm Director – Feb 2026
Fill your kete – learning opportunities and sector insights – March 2026
Kia ora e te whānau,
With the end of the financial year approaching, our team at Inspiring Communities is taking time to reflect and look ahead, continuing our focus on strengthening community-led development practice across Aotearoa.
Looking outward, we’re excited that members of our team, Anna Parker, Gwyn John and Moko Morris have had their abstract accepted for the upcoming World Community Development Conference on Decolonising Community-Led Development in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the current funding climate it is proving challenging to secure travel support, so if you or your organisation may be able to assist in any way, we’d love to hear from you.
Finally, we’ll be launching a short survey next month to ask where you think we should focus our efforts and resources, whether that’s expanding free learning opportunities, developing more paid workshops, or exploring a Te Tiriti-focused community of practice. We’re also beginning to explore themes for the 2027 Hapori Aotearoa conference and would value your early whakaaro.
Let’s keep strengthening our collective practice before the noise of the general election cycle ramps up later in the year.
– Aaron Hawkins, Director, Inspiring Communities
Building accessible and resilient communities – Feb 2026
Kia ora e te whānau,
Recent climate events continue to remind us of something communities have always known. Resilient responses start locally. New research from Environment Hubs Aotearoa on climate resilience highlights the critical role of connected communities, mana whenua, and trusted local organisations in disaster response and recovery. As conversations continue around civil defence settings and system preparedness, community-led, locally grounded action remains essential to building resilience across the whole system.
At Inspiring Communities, our focus is on supporting this work by strengthening local capability, enabling connection, and sharing practical learning that helps communities and organisations act with confidence. Through our consulting arm, Powerdigm, we also work alongside organisations seeking to implement locally led approaches in practice, providing strategy, advisory, and implementation support tailored to their unique contexts.
These conversations are also unfolding internationally. The upcoming World Community Development Conference will highlight the importance of collective, community-led responses to complex global challenges, while the International Association for Community Development (IACD) is hosting a webinar, Building Resilient Communities, sharing international insights into how community development practice is supporting disaster preparedness and response.
– Aaron Hawkins, Director, Inspiring Communities – Feb 2026
What’s ahead for community-led development – Jan 2026
Kia ora e te whānau,
For many across Aotearoa, this year has begun under the weight of loss, uncertainty, and ongoing hardship. Communities are facing complex challenges shaped by economic pressure, political change, and the growing impacts of climate disruption.
What continues to inspire us is the way people respond to these moments with care and quiet fortitude. Even in difficult circumstances, communities are looking after one another, checking in, and sharing what they have.
As 2026 unfolds, these everyday acts will be more important than ever. While the year ahead may bring further change and instability, it also calls for compassion, collaboration, and community-led responses that build on what already exists in our places and people.
We’ll continue to support the conditions for communities to lead their own change, putting Te Tiriti o Waitangi into practice in ways that are led by you and your community.
– Aaron Hawkins, Director, Inspiring Communities – Jan 2026
Celebrating people, places and the power of community – Dec 2025
Kia ora e te whānau,
Across the motu, communities are affecting real change in ways that reflect their local identities, strengths and aspirations. It’s been encouraging to support community-led approaches when so much of this mahi, despite the odds, is opening doors to new ways of working.
As we head into 2026, we’ll be carrying this inspiration forward, guided by Te Tiriti and our four strategic pou: Building Capability, Evolving Knowledge, Influencing Change and Ensuring Sustainability. We are keen to reconnect in the new year through our training, learning and insights, and our role advocating for community-led approaches as the new norm.
Your generous contributions this year have helped us shape our own practice, and with proposed changes to local government and general elections ahead in 2026, we will be asking for your thoughts in the new year on how we can best support communities and keep CLD at the centre of this kōrero. We’ll be sending out a short survey, and you are also welcome to get in touch with us directly at any time.
Have a wonderful silly season amongst your nearest and dearest and we will see you on the other side.
Ngā mihi o te raumati me Te Tau Hau Pākeha,
– Aaron Hawkins, Director, Inspiring Communities – Dec 2026
Meri Kirihimete from Powerdigm – Dec 2025
As I reflect on the year, what comes to mind first is the times I have travelled across the Motu – Tauranga, Dunedin, Auckland, Nelson, Rotorua, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch – connecting with many of you in person. The challenges and successes you have shared with me have been invaluable in shaping Powerdigm’s direction.
Across our mahi in 2025, we’ve seen clear themes emerging for organisations working toward community-led and systems-level change:
- Measurement & impact: Many organisations are facing new expectations around evidence and accountability and need simple, practical ways to demonstrate change.
- System-change realities: True system change remains challenging. Collaboration across sectors is uneven, and alignment takes time.
- Capability gaps: Facilitation confidence, data literacy, and the ability to use evidence meaningfully continue to be common development needs.
- Where we’ve seen success: The biggest shifts this year came when organisations focused on what things were within their control and influence, and used simple tools and approaches to understand, measure and grow their impact.
This year, our consultancy collective has partnered with a range of government agencies, NGO’s and philanthropic organisations, supporting teams to grow and demonstrate their impact, strengthen governance and policy, and develop internal Te Tiriti capability and strategy.
In 2026, we’ll continue to champion practical tools, relational leadership, and evidence-informed decision-making to support this important mahi.
I hope the holidays give you space to rest, recharge, and celebrate the good. Meri Kirihimete, and I look forward to reconnecting in the new year.
– Donna Provoost, Director
Community-led practice in action – Nov 2025
As we hurtle towards the end of the year, we’re highlighting learning, connection and what happens when we put practice into action. Many of you are navigating change in your local contexts, and we continue to see how community-led approaches create space for communities to shape their own responses.
This month we’re sharing a wide mix of opportunities to support this way of working, so I’ll keep this intro brief. We have one more pānui before we break for summer, and we’d love to include any stories of change you’re open to sharing as part of a collaborative end-of-year edition.
Ngā mihi mō tō koutou mahi,
– Aaron Hawkins, Director, Inspiring Communities
Weaving our strengths and connections – Oct 2025
It’s been an energising time here at Inspiring Communities as our strategic refresh continues to take shape, strengthening how we support CLD learning and practice across Aotearoa.
Upcoming highlights include our AI for Community webinar, Tūhono Impact workshop on measuring what matters, and a thoughtful new blog from Donna Provoost on making the invisible visible in social impact.
Our Te Tiriti and Trauma-informed Practice sessions are both now full, but there’s always our online module CLD 101 to help build your foundational knowledge, and spaces available in next year’s Micro-credential in CLD Facilitation cohort to strengthen your own practice. And if budget allows, why not share your local story on the world stage at World Community Development Conference 2026 in Glasgow?
Ngā mihi nui,
– Aaron Hawkins, Director, Inspiring Communities
Making the invisible visible – Oct 2025
It’s been a busy season of kōrero! From launching our new Tūhono Impact tool to presenting at Whakamanawa 2025 earlier this year, and now gearing up to join Volunteering NZ’s Changemakers Hui, I’ve been privileged to connect with so many of you exploring how we measure and make sense of our mahi.
We all know social impact is more than just the visible outcomes, it’s also the deeper shifts in confidence, belonging, and connection that really make our communities stronger. That’s why I wrote a recent blog unpacking what social impact really means, and how we can better capture the invisible impacts that matter most. Whether you’re deep into demonstrating your social impact already or just starting out, Tūhono Impact offers a practical way to reflect, track and share your story in ways that resonate with your values and your community.
If you haven’t yet explored the tool, webinar, or upcoming workshop, now’s the time! And if your organisation is ready to go further in telling your impact story, or needs support with strategy, design or facilitation – we’d love to help.
– Donna Provoost, Director