Key Projects
The Whānau Fund Trust and Nau Mai Rā
Power & Care Model
Established in 2021 by Nau Mai Rā Limited, the Whānau Fund Charitable Trust exists so that no whānau in Aotearoa has to choose between heating their home and putting food on the table, with over 130,000 households currently unable to adequately heat their homes, and 300,000 people living in cold or damp conditions.
As General Manager, I led all aspects of the Trust's delivery, from strategic planning, impact reporting, building community and funding partnerships through to programme design and implementation. I've grounded the Trust's work in manaakitanga, partnering with local organisations to tackle energy hardship at the source. To date we’ve supported 2,500 households and 10,200 individuals to keep their homes warmer and healthier. Learn more →
The Waikato Rangatahi Opportunity
Youthink You Know: Case for Change: Lead Author
A significant regional project focused on enabling rangatahi to thrive.
A community research report giving young people in Hamilton | Kirikiriroa a voice in shaping the systems meant to support them.
Drawing on peer research, direct interviews with rangatahi, advisors, and multiple co-design sessions with 50+ young people. The report identifies six core insights: the need for a trusted mentor (kaiārahi), a sense of belonging, better preparation for life after school, stronger mental health support, recognition of cultural identity, and action on structural inequity.
The report has been used as a strategic resource for youth organisations, funders, and policymakers across the Waikato region.
As Project Lead, I brought together iwi, business, social agencies, philanthropists, local government and NGOs to design and deliver a shared strategy for youth wellbeing across the Waikato, utilising design thinking to uncover root causes.
We hold a vision that "all of our young people are engaged, thriving and are learning or earning a livelihood, their mana is enhanced, and they are on a positive pathway to have many life options."
The Waikato Rangatahi Opportunity
Project Lead & Researcher
Home Kitchen - Founder
Home Kitchen was a food-focused social enterprise providing work and training opportunities to the former refugee community whilst showcasing the diverse cultures that exist in Kirikiriroa. Home Kitchen provided a range of services from pop-up experiences to cooking classes and catering and aims to increase its impact by growing into other regions in New Zealand. Home Kitchen has been featured in MindFood and Nourish magazines as well as across other media outlets such as Stuff, NZ Herald and Radio New Zealand. In 2019, Home Kitchen were awarded the Hamilton CBDs Best Social Enterprise Award.
Home Kitchen was founded after Tania volunteered at Kara Tepe Camp in Lesvos, Greece and returned seeking ways to better support those with a lived refugee experience to thrive, here in Aotearoa. The inspiration for the name, Home Kitchen, came from volunteering with Katerina & Nikos of Home for a Day, a social kitchen supporting the refugee community living on Lesvos.
Home Kitchen aims to help Hamilton's former refugees - Stuff Article
The Waikato Wellbeing Project
Project Lead & Researcher
A first of its kind in Aotearoa, the Waikato Wellbeing Project is a regional initiative to achieve a more environmentally sustainable, prosperous, and inclusive Waikato by 2030.
I led the design and delivery of the framework behind it — an iterative, design-thinking process that brought together 150+ leaders and stakeholders from iwi, business, community, education, council, philanthropy, the arts, tourism, health and environment to co-develop 10 Waikato Wellbeing Targets, based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
This included designing and facilitating workshops, and running a series of face-to-face community conversations and a digital feedback tool to open the targets up for public input before they were finalised.
The ten targets were launched at the Waikato Wellbeing Summit, opened by the Hon. Jacinda Ardern, who described the project as:
"a blueprint for the rest of New Zealand to do things differently."
Seed Waikato.
Seed Waikato, a movement that brings millennials together to improve their wellbeing through events, workshops and digital education. Seed Waikato joined 11 other organisations to capture the voice of young people to make a formal submission on behalf of 130 rangatahi to the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction.
Shane Way and Tania Jones facilitated a 130 strong hui where young people were able to share their experiences with mental health and addiction. Tania themed and identified key insights from the session that informed the formal submission to the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction.
OurPower.
A social electricity retailer aimed at tackling energy hardship within the Waikato, of which 18,000 households are impacted. OurPower now has 1400 customers and is the fastest growing retailer in the Waikato and has saved their customers a total of $773,825* since launching in 2019. To enable a successful launch Tania worked across key partners to develop the OurPower user experience, brand, benefits and go-to market strategy. In addition, Tania co-designed a programme the Energy Navigator Programme with WEL Energy Trust and key community agencies, to ensure OurPower reached the customers experiencing energy hardship the most.
