Kia ora koutou, Greetings, and As-Salaam-Alaikum,

1. Comms Meetings

Shortly after joining the team, Sandra and Nona had a few distance meetings to start developing the questionnaire for the online survey.  The survey was made available to our mailing list and to the general public through our website. The responses from the survey were discussed at a meeting with our Communications advisors, Tracey Bridges and Kate Smith.

The meeting with the Communications team, held on 10 October in Hamilton, was an extremely productive one.  It provided a necessary opportunity for Sandra and Nona to be introduced to Tracey and Kate, and a chance to thoroughly discuss the outcomes of the survey and how best to implement the feedback to refine the mission statement, guiding principles, and the core narrative.  Once again, the guidance and input provided by Tracey and Kate has been invaluable and has provided IAC with greater clarity and precision in these foundational statements. Most importantly, it was acknowledged that these statements are living documents and may evolve as the project grows and changes over time. The next meeting with the Comms team is planned for the end of October.

2. Survey outcome

Thank you to all of you who participated in our survey about our Mission Statement and our Guiding Principles.  There was some very useful feedback that we considered to re-word our mission statement, the newest version of which is as follows:

“To build a social movement that creates lasting change by enabling each person and community to claim their place in Aotearoa New Zealand, while recognising the right of others to do so too.”
The guiding principles have also been updated and they will be available on the website next week.

3. Meeting with Race Relations and Human Rights Commissioners 11/10/19

Anjum, Nona and Sandra met with Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon and Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt to update them on the IAC current status and near future plans.  An important area of discussion involved how the work of the two organizations can complement each other.

A discussion was held about the IAC’s long-term strategy, in particular, questions that shape the vision for the 10-year mark:

How many constellations will be running?
Once the mapping of existing services is in place, how will this be kept up to date?
Should a second round of consultations be conducted at the end of 10 years?
These are questions that will be addressed as the strategy is being developed.
The meeting was a positive experience all around. Commissioner Hunt emphasized his appreciation for the scope of the project and the fact that this project is not being rushed, but is taking the time to lay down well-planned foundations. Both Commissioners were very supportive of the project and offered their assistance where appropriate.

4. Other meetings of note have taken place over the last three weeks include:

• Sandra and Anjum met with the All Right? Team, Canterbury District Health Board in Christchurch to introduce IAC and to hear about their work in improving mental health outcomes and wellbeing

• Anjum and Nona talked with Najira Khaman from Belong Aotearoa about mapping of services.

• Anjum attended NetHui in Wellington, organised by Internet NZ. It was a well-attended event, and Anjum presented on a panel with a topic of “The Internet after Christchurch.”

Sandra, Nona and Anjum have had multiple meetings and made progress on the strategic plan, the working goals and timelines, logistical planning, and division of tasks, as well as holding discussions about the the consultation process and the constellation model.

Funding

Our thanks to The Todd Foundation for providing significant funding for this project. We really appreciate their support. Anyone wishing to donate to Inclusive Aotearoa Collective, please contact [email protected]

Next steps:

We plan to host the next zoom conference call on Wednesday, 13 November, at 4:30 pm. The link will be sent out in our next newsletter (Update #9). We will be providing some materials about the following: strategic plan, risks and mitigation, and questions for your consideration before this conference call. Stay tuned!

Once again thank you for your interest and participation in the Inclusive Aotearoa Collective.
Ngā mihi nui,
Anjum Rahman, Nona Morris, and Sandra James