Kia ora,

Progress towards setting up Constellations

The main focus of the third phase of this project is on setting up three Constellations. Each Constellation will be a collaborative network of people and organisations working together around a focus area. There’s a lot of development work and some key decisions needed before we can begin to seed and set up the constellations – so we are getting into that work now.

The first piece of work is deciding what the three focus areas will be, so we are developing the process for making this decision. The choice of focus areas will be informed by the conversations run by IACT and the Strategy developed from those.

Beginning in late November/early December, we will be holding a series of advisory meetings to discuss this research and understand more about which of the areas identified in the research will be a good fit for starting Constellations. The outcome of the decision making process will be shared in early 2021.

Welcome to Tim Foote

The team would like to welcome Tim Foote who has joined the team as our Strategic and Practice Advisor.

Tim has been working with and learning about interpersonal communication, connection and conflict for over a decade. He supports, designs, facilitates and leads dynamic, responsive processes and projects that support people, communities and organisations to transform how they communicate and connect. Tim specialises in supporting people to identify and solve problems or complex interactions authentically and collaboratively.

Professionally, Tim is a mediator, facilitator, professional supervisor, and consultant. He mostly works with social good and impact-oriented organisations, as well as charities, corporates and local and national government. He is known for his work creating large scale community led change projects including Wellington Conversations | Kia whai take i Pōneke (2019/2020), a city wide event series backed by Wellington City Council to deepen neighbourhood connectedness throughout the city. Currently Tim is primarily working with individuals and organisations around New Zealand that work with people and communities – supporting them to understand and improve their practices, frameworks and tools.

Tim holds a Masters in Peace and Conflict Resolution and is an Advanced Accredited Mediator with Resolution Institute. He is a professional member of Resolution Institute NZ, Restorative Practices Aotearoa, and the Australian Clinical Supervision Association. Outside of work, Tim is a father, neighbour, gardener, musician, and a volunteer in the art and community sectors. He grew up in Vanuatu and Australia to Kiwi/Australian parents and has spent time living in France and Canada (Quebec). Tim has been living in Wellington with his family since 2014.

Ponsonby Primary School

This month Ponsonby Primary School invited Meng Foon and Anjum Rahman to both speak and discuss unconscious bias and how we as adults and educators can recognise and act positively to address this notion around unconscious bias. A presentation on this discussion will be available on their website. The principal Sanjay Rama, recommended to teachers and parents, if they have the time to watch, there is some very strong messages portrayed.

Paris Peace Forum

Anjum Rahman will be part of a panel at the Paris Peace Forum, talking about the Christchurch Call. The session is at 9pm (NZT) on 13 November and will be online. If you are interested in participating you will need to to register to attend the forum on their website here.

Whatua Te Muka Tāngata

Weaving the Bonds of Humanity Leadership Development Opportunity for Third Culture Youth
What: A three-day residential programme or wānanga
Where: Ōrākei Marae
Start: Friday 11th Dec @ 2pm Finish: Sunday 13th Dec @ 2pm
Who: 18 to 30 years olds from any ethnic minority groups and of migrant/refugee background
Cost: Free of Charge

We know that instilling a deep sense of ‘belonging’ is essential to positive social and economic outcomes for migrant and refugee background communities. The Whatua Te Muka Tāngata initiative is based on using the Treaty of Waitangi and the incredible cultural tradition of welcoming that exists with the Māori culture to overcome this challenge for our growing diverse communities. We all have a role to play in this space. Our goal is to help you to fulfil your potential here.

The Opportunity: We would love for you to join us for a two-night/three-day programme or wānanga to connect with and build friendships with Māori young people and youth from diverse third cultures. This programme is designed to create connections and learning opportunities through specially designed and facilitated cultural activities and protocols. We will all share stories and explore concepts that exist within our cultures as well as within Te Ao Māori. We believe that storytelling is a powerful way of connecting, enhancing mana, and strengthening cohesion between us.

What you will gain: You will have the chance to be welcomed to Aotearoa by tangata whenua (the people of the land) and will have a tūrangawaewae (place where one has the right to stand), which we hope will serve as an anchor for you to know you are respected and valued as people of Aotearoa. You will build relationships through getting to know other third culture kids and rangatahi Maori in a safe place.

Our Vision: To welcome communities to weave and bind together the diverse threads of humanity through storytelling, identity and belonging to support social cohesion and well-being in our communities.

Next Steps: Please complete this Expression of Interest Form to register with us. We will be holding some community meetings to answer questions and for you to meet some of the team and find out more. If you would like us to come to your community, please get in touch to arrange. For more information please call: Tim on 0211998077 or email [email protected]

Hiring soon

We will be looking to hire more staff, so please keep an eye out for a notice in December when we are ready to provide more information.