When a community comes together, combining forces, the impact is greater.
Taranaki Foundation, a community foundation in New Zealand, is a great example of this. Since its establishment in 2015, the foundation has made a significant impact on the Taranaki community, thanks to the support of its donors and trusted funding partners. Its vision is to nurture and build the prosperity of its region through community giving, partnerships and philanthropy.
“Our core role is to enable anyone in the community – whether you’re an individual, a family, a trust or a business – to leave a legacy or make a lasting impact on the place we all call home,” said Taranaki Foundation Chief Executive Josh Hickford. “We are a community builder, brokering partnerships and relationships to make Taranaki an even better place for those in the community.”
At Third Sector Leaders Forum 2025, Mr Hickford will be sharing how organisations can widen their impact. Here’s what he has to say about the topic at hand:
How can we forge values-aligned partnerships that extend beyond funding to build trust, credibility and a shared purpose?
To form successful partnerships that lead to tangible and visible change, you need a strong, high-performing team where all members have aligned values with a deep passion to get to the same destination. It doesn’t matter if you’re a charity, a business, an individual or a corporate; the ingredients are simple: you simply must have something that you can add together within the relationship.
It’s about combining collective skills, expertise, resources and passions to move together towards a shared or common goal. When you can successfully achieve that, it becomes a very powerful combination, often leading to outcomes and those destinations that once felt impossible.
How does aligning stakeholders, staff and supporters with an organisation’s mission help cultivate a community of champions?
It’s by creating a culture where it is not just the job or role title, not the time you pay them for, but why they do what they do and what that means in real terms. As an individual from their community, as a family or friend who resides locally, you bring much more than just your professional reputation, but who you are. If you can get these people thinking differently, they will go further and do more – skin in the game always helps.
When deep, trusted partnerships and relationships form, the barriers to decision-making become much less. It just becomes a no-brainer, whatever it is that you’re looking at. Because we all see the world differently, when we come and look together, we can see a whole lot further.
How does blending professional networks with personal leadership influence unlock new opportunities?
Professional networks and advisors are trusted individuals in all our communities. Those people are usually sought out to give advice, for their advice to be listened to and acted upon – they are trusted and often relied upon to guide both difficult and significant decisions.
If you can build a strong professional network that you can lean on for whatever situation it might be, then when people do need advice, or we need to seek their advice, it’s much easier to get, and you can move faster and more cost-effectively with better outcomes.
Is there anything you want to add or highlight? What should people look forward to in your session?
My session isn’t targeted at a particular individual, career stage or industry. It’s about bringing in an open mind that no matter what your role is or where you are right now, you can play a key leadership role in your community. If we’re all thinking like that, then we’ll be able to achieve a huge amount of potential impact together. That goes for any part of the world.
Join the conversation on harnessing partnerships to power impact. Secure your spot for the forum now.
Geraldine is currently the Content Producer for Third Sector, an Akolade channel. Throughout her career, she has written for various industries and international audiences. Her love for writing extends beyond the corporate world, as she also works as a volunteer writer at her local church. Aside from writing, she is also fond of joining fun runs and watching musicals.
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