Author Archives: Tara Robertson
The NEXT Review
The NEXT Review This Review covers the journey of NEXT over ten years and includes the back story, way of operating, key milestones and various lessons learned along the way. Read more here
Milestones
Check out some of the accomplishments that made NEXT proud. Read more here
NEXT Stories introduction – Sunset Reflections
Reflections at Sunset by Bill Kermode Kia ora koutou, and welcome to the fourth and final issue of the NEXT Stories. NEXT was launched ten years ago and as we approach our ten-year spend down, I’v...
Successes, learning and the future
Successes, learning and the future Reflections at sunset • Annette and Neal Plowman are the founders of NEXT, a ten-year spend down foundation, with a strategic focus on the environment and educat...
Sustaining the gains
Sustaining the gains Beyond NEXT • NEXT is a limited life Foundation and planning for transition and sustainability of grant partners began at the point of NEXT investment • NEXT looked to suppor...
Fellowship Roopu Tuatoru
Fellowship Roopu Tuatoru On the systems change frontier • In 2019 NEXT turned its attention to growing leaders in system change, via the NEXT Fellowship • The vision is to build, connect, and gro...
The Centre for Strategic Philanthropy
The Centre for Strategic Philanthropy An invitation to give thoughtfully • The Centre for Strategic Philanthropy (CSP) is a place for givers with a strategic, business-like approach to meet, share...
NEXT vision, objectives and values
Guided by stars Vision, objectives and values NEXT’s vision reflects the philosophy of it’s founders, Annette and Neal Plowman, and their particular areas of interest in environment and educat...
NEXT friends
Caring for the land and people A whole lot of help from our friends NEXT’s vision is to leave a legacy of environmental and educational excellence for the benefit of future generations of New ...
NEXT Foundation Fellowships
Growing strategic agents of change Summary Aotearoa New Zealand is facing serious challenges - social, environmental, economic and cultural - many of which are complex, embedded, fractured and...
NEXT team and community
Creating a legacy for future generations The importance of people The NEXT team and community aspire to make a transformational difference for future generations of New Zealanders NEXT is a...
Guided by stars
Kia ora koutou, and welcome to the third issue of NEXT Stories. NEXT was formed eight years ago and I’ve been musing over recent months how much has changed during that time. We have witnessed C...
NEXT Champion Geoff Ricketts From NEXT Foundation
Giving encourages giving. On top of the generosity of our founders we are also privileged to have many other generous New Zealanders giving NEXT their time, expertise and experience to help achieve ou...
Project Janszoon and Taranaki Mounga Project sign Tomorrow Accord
Two of NEXT’s environmental initiatives have reached significant milestones. Project Janszoon and Taranaki Mounga Project have both signed The Tomorrow Accord agreement - recognising they have achieve...
Bringing Kiwi back to the Kaitake Range From Taranaki Mounga Project
For decades kiwis were not seen or heard in the Kaitake Range in Taranaki. But after a massive predator control effort ten kiwis were released there last year - all have paired up and are breeding an...
Now I don’t know my ABC From the Education Hub
One of the education initiatives NEXT supports, The Education Hub, has published a report exploring the perilous state of literacy in Aotearoa New Zealand. READ report here.
Project Janszoon airlifts rare ducks into Abel Tasman
One of NEXT’s environmental initiatives, Project Janszoon, has given some rare blue ducks a grand entry into the Abel Tasman National Park - as part of its conservation strategy to help protect the sp...
Introducing NEXT Champion Laura Lee From NEXT
Giving encourages giving. On top of the generosity of our founders we are also privileged to have many other generous New Zealanders giving NEXT their time, expertise and experience to help achieve ou...
December 2021
Kia ora friend of NEXT, When we set the education and environmental initiatives NEXT supports the challenge of coming up with an image and one sentence to illustrate their highlight of 2021 for our... Spring Edition – September 2021
Kia ora friend of NEXT, With Aotearoa New Zealand in another lockdown it seems apt that this newsletter features a story from former PFNZ 2050 Ltd CEO Abbie Reynolds on conservation as a catalyst f...
Birds on the Brink – a documentary on Predator Free NZ 2050 from 101 East Al Jazeera
Predator Free NZ 2050 has been put under an international lens - it’s the focus of a new documentary released by 101 East Al Jazeera. The documentary on New Zealand’s "hairy audacious goal” features e...
Nextgen and philanthropy for Aotearoa New Zealand
How could philanthropy be reimagined in Aotearoa New Zealand? In this edition of NEXT Outlook Te Radar hosts a panel discussion with future young leaders Inspiring Stories CEO Guy Ryan; NEXT Fellow Ju...
Next generation at the Project Janszoon Board table
NEXT supported environmental initiative Project Janszoon has invited a teenager onto its Board, as this story in Stuff reports.
SPACE for you and your baby transitions into Parenting Place
Eighteen years ago, a group of mums in Lower Hutt Wellington, were at different stages of raising children – but were all aligned on one aspect of parenting. The need for more support. Leanne Dawso...
Conservation as a catalyst for wellbeing
In this edition of NEXT Outlook, Predator Free 2050 Limited CEO Abbie Reynolds discusses how the predator free movement’s benefits go far beyond saving more than 25 million birds a year and helping pr...
Fight for the Wild – podcast series
A podcast series by freelance environmental journalist Dave Hansford has been released to compliment the video series of Fight for the Wild. “Predator Free NZ 2050 is by far the biggest and best news...
Fight for the Wild episode four – Hope
In the final episode of Fight for the Wild, we travel to predator free Hauturu-o-Toi / Little Barrier Island to see what the vision of a predator-free Aotearoa could look like. We discover breakthroug...
Fight for the Wild episode three – Battle
Fight for the Wild episode three focuses on the mahi being undertaken to save New Zealand’s endangered bird species.While bird song is receding across New Zealand’s mainland, hundreds of community-led...
Fight for the Wild episode two – Defiance
New Zealander’s have drawn a line in the sand, announcing that Aotearoa will rid the nation of rats, stoats and possums by 2050. We’ve been successful on off-shore islands, but what will it take to ex...
FIGHT FOR THE WILD RELEASE
New Zealand’s ambitious goal to become predator free by 2050 is under the spotlight in a four part documentary and podcast series that is released next week - a project supported by NEXT. The docum...
Fight for the Wild
NEXT is excited to be a funder in a four part documentary series on the Predator Free 2050 movement - Fight for the Wild. Fight for the Wild takes viewers into the wild heart of Aotearoa and docume...
Kiwis return to Kaitake Ranges from Taranaki Mounga Project
Ten western brown kiwi have been released into the bush in Taranaki - in an historic reintroduction of the birds into the Kaitake Ranges, part of the National Park. The release follows a huge colla...
Te Manahuna Aoraki monitoring endangered lizards
Do you know how important lizards are to protecting the biodiversity of the South Island High Country? This TVOne News story explains why - and why its important to monitor the endangered species i...
Kiwi return to the Kaitake Ranges
After decades of absence kiwi have been returned to the Kaitake Ranges in Taranaki. A fabulous milestone for NEXT supported environment initiative Taranaki Mounga, other conservation groups and the pe...
Rotoroa Island celebrates 10 years
Rotoroa Island is celebrating10 years as a wildlife sanctuary - and visitors over Easter were treated to a kiwi release. The island was closed to the public for 100 years as The Salvation Army’s dr...
NEXT Outlook returns
After a twelve month Covid hiatus - our NEXT Outlook breakfasts have returned. Despite a couple of postponements NEXT was delighted to be able to host a NEXT Outlook breakfast in mid March, where gues...
The Covid Brain Gain – Opportunities for Aotearoa New Zealand
A survey by Kea New Zealand has shown many ex pat kiwis are wanting to return home - and Covid is the catalyst. They also say they want to give back to Aotearoa New Zealand - with time and/or money...
Hike of the humble hedgehog
TV One News reports on a research project underway into hedgehogs at NEXT supported environmental initiative Te Manahuna Aoraki. Hedgehogs are a major predator in the MacKenzie Basin - so the resea...
Predator Free South Westland launched
New Zealand’s most ambitious predator free project launched New Zealand’s largest and most ambitious predator free project will provide a pathway towards the country’s goal of being predator free b...
SUMMER LEARNING JOURNEY A SUCCESS
An online blogging programme that helps children from low income communities keep up their academic progress in the summer holidays has proved to be a success. NEXT Foundation funded the development o...
Regenerative Agriculture: White Paper recommends priorities
NEXT Foundation has welcomed a white paper released today setting out research priorities for the future of regenerative farming in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Paper was released by Our Land and Wate...
NEXT environmental initiatives reflect on 2020
[video width="1200" height="600" mp4="https://www.nextfoundation.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Environment-Video-2020.mp4"][/video] We set the environmental initiatives NEXT invests i...
NEXT education initiatives reflect on 2020
[video width="1200" height="600" mp4="https://www.nextfoundation.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Education-Video-2020.mp4"][/video] We asked the education initiatives NEXT invests in to...
Maori Legend – The Creation of Aoraki /Mount CookFrom Te Manahuna Aoraki
Most of the landmarks in Te Manahuna Aoraki are named after ancestors of the waka atua Āraiteuru including the majestic Aoraki. Te rūnaka o Moeraki Upoko, and Te Manahuna Aoraki board member, David Hi...
ZIP and Cacophony Project awarded funding
Two of the environmental initiatives NEXT supports have been awarded funding by PFNZ2050 Ltd. The Cacophony Project and Zero Invasive Projects have both been given funding to develop tools to help ...
PROJECT JANSZOON MILESTONE – 40,000 RATS
Project Janszoon, an environmental initiative NEXT supports restoring the ecosystems in the Abel Tasman National Park, has reached a signifiant milestone. It has trapped over 40,000 rats over the p...
Te Manahuna Aoraki releases annual report 2020
Te Manahuna Aoraki - an environmental initiative NEXT invests in, has published its 2020 Annual Report. It outlines all the mahi being done on this collaborative project to restore the biodiversity...
Purpose-driven structures for Impact Entrepreneurs in Aotearoa New Zealand
NEXT environmental director Jan Hania is part of a group that has published this paper looking at future business in Aotearoa through a stewardship and kaitiakitanga lens. Read more here.
PFNZ 2050 Limited releases annual report
Predator Free New Zealand 2050 Limited has released its annual report. Chair Jane Taylor and CEO Abbie Reynolds says it has been a dramatic year - with Covid-19 presenting challenges and opportunit...
ZIP 2020 Annual Report
Zero Invasive Predators has released its 2020 Annual Report. The report outlines progress on the Perth River Valley project where ZIP has undertaken the biggest ever mainland predator eradication p... NEXT Newsletter – October 2020
In this edition of the NEXT newsletter, Wellington welcomes some new rare residents, we introduce you to the second cohort of NEXT fellows, the Ministry of Eduction collaborates more closely with phil...
NEXT announces new cohort of Fellows
NEXT is delighted to support seven Fellows over the next year in various educational and environmental fields. Read the full publication here.
Ministry of Education and philanthropy collaborating on inequality
A Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Ministry of Education, Philanthropy NZ and various philanthropic organisations is the first step in a new collaborative approach to address inequity in...
Wellington a Covid-19 safe haven for endangered birds
An endangered bird species has settled into new digs in Wellington. The matuku moana / reef heron has been spotted off Island Bay - proof the strategy for Predator Free Wellington is paying dividen...
Predator Free Wellington Impact Report Released From Predator Free Wellington
Predator Free Wellington has released its impact report for 2019/20. Project director James Willcocks says "In a year of a global pandemic, predator free mahi has proven it’s not only good for the ...
Predator Free Wellington gets funding boostFrom Predator Free Wellington
Predator Free Wellington has received an additional $7.6million funding boost as part of the Government’s Jobs for Nature programme. The funding comes from Predator Free NZ 2050 Limited. It will fast...
BayTrust – impact investing for social change by Annette Culpan for NEXT
BayTrust - established following the sale of the Bay of Plenty Trust Bank - has moved beyond granting into impact investment. It is discovering an impact investment strategy is a powerful tool for sol...
Predator Free NZ 2050 Limited announces new CEO
Abbie Reynolds has been appointed CEO of Predator Free NZ 2050 Limited. Abbie is the former Executive Director of the Sustainable Business Council and takes over the role next month. Photo credi...
Learning from Lockdown From The Education Hub
The Education Hub has released a report profiling New Zealand’s learnings from lockdown. It looks at what did and didn’t work for students, parents and teachers when the first Covid-19 lockdown closed... NEXT Newsletter – August 2020
Kia ora friend of NEXT He rangi tā matawhāiti, he rangi tā matawhānui A person with narrow vision has a restricted horizon, a person with wide vision has plenty of opportunities. Looking for...
Protecting the Environment from Mounga to Moana
Taranaki Mounga DOC Ranger Tama Blackburn loves his Waitara community. He describes his connection to Koro Taranaki, and his community volunteering efforts with Waitara taiao (natural environment) and...
Taiohi Enhance their Connection to Koro Taranaki
Tiki Toa, is a fabulous programme for intermediate children of Taranaki - focussing on their connection to to Taranaki Mounga, the taiao (natural environment) and Te Ao Māori (Maori world view) to sup...
South Taranaki Students Sound Off on Stoats
Students from Auroa School in South Taranaki are helping provide a safe haven for endangered species on Taranaki Mounga. They have developed a solar powered audio system to lure stoats into traps - an...
Making a START Toward a Rewarding Future
Trevor Walker - Trevor is from START Taranaki, a programme that supports young men in the youth justice system. Trev has found a new happy place - on the Mounga, where he is building traps and cutting...
Taranaki Mounga – Benefits Beyond Biodiversity from Taranaki Mounga
Photo Credit: Jeremy Beckers Taranaki Mounga is an ambitious conservation project transforming the mountain, ranges and islands of Taranaki. But as well as protecting and enhancing the biodiversit...
Te Manahuna Aoraki – Saving the endangered Robust Grasshopper
One of the world’s first predator free fences for insects is operating near Tekapo - to help save the endangered Robust Grasshopper. As this video by NEXT supported environmental project Te Manahuna A...
Project Janszoon – Saving Rare Native Snails
The Abel Tasman National Park is home to two rare native snails - including a critically endangered species. In this video NEXT supported environmental initiative Project Janszoon looks at the intense...
Greater awareness of business values a boost for Humanitix By Nicholas Moody for NEXT
NEXT supported initiative Humanitix is reporting a positive spin off on the back of Covid-19. Humanitix is a not-for-profit ticketing platform which channels booking fees to projects addressing edu...
Rising to the Challenge Stories from the Covid-19 Crisis NEXT supported education projects
Covid 19 turned Aotearoa New Zealand’s education system on its head. The race to online learning presented both challenges and opportunities for the education projects NEXT supports. Nicholas Moody re...
Rising to the Challenge Stories from the Covid-19 Crisis NEXT supported environmental projects
Covid 19 presented unforeseen challenges to the environmental projects NEXT supports - but also created opportunities. In this series Polly Hudson looks at how the environmental projects pivoted in...
Talking Matters – Keeping up the kōrero in Covid 19 by Nicholas Moody for NEXT
The Covid-19 lockdown thrust families together in a way we never imagined. But for parents who were part of the NEXT supported Talking Matters programme - it also gave them an opportunity to test t...
NEXT appoints Environmental Operations Director
NEXT Foundation has announced it has appointed an Environmental Operations Director. Stephen Hall has more than 20 years experience in natural resource management, and will take up the role in Octo...
Ipipiri Nature Conservancy Trust – Negotiating a purchase mid Covid-19 by Polly Hudson for NEXT
The Ipipiri Nature Conservancy Trust has secured a deal to buy Elliot Bay - a 700 hectare property at one of Northland’s iconic surf beaches. The Trust has a vision of preserving the Māori heritage, ...
Zero Invasive Predators receives funding for detection camera From Zero Invasive Predators
NEXT supported environmental project Zero Invasive Predators has received funding to develop a backcountry detection camera to help track rats stoats and possums that are decimating the birdlife in Ne...
Serve and return in babies first 1,000 days by NEXT Fellow Thalia Wright
NEXT fellow Thalia Wright reports on serve and return communication and the importance of developing responsive relationships in the first 1,000 days of life. This article has been published by The E...
Te Manahuna Aoraki – Covid 19 lockdown luckyby Polly Hudson NEXT Foundation
When Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were eased it came just in time for the field workers at NEXT supported environmental project Te Manahuna Aoraki. They were able to retrieve some predator monitorin...
Northland coastal farm Elliot Bay saved from development
Could the Bay of Islands become the location of a Great Walk to rival the Milford and Routeburn Tracks? That’s the vision of the Ipipiri Nature Conservancy Trust after it secured a deal on 700 hectare...
Elliot Bay saved from development
Iconic national surf beach Elliot Bay has been saved from development - with the Ipipiri Nature Conservancy Trust managing to secure a deal in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. NEXT is one of many ...
Cacophony – Kiwis develop Te Kahu Ora – Cloak of Health to help fight Covid by Polly Hudson for NEXT
The Cacophony Project focuses on New Zealand’s big environmental problem - developing AI to help get rid of the rats stoats and possums that kill 25 million of our native birds a year. But when the...
The San Francisco Foundation – affordable housing by Annette Culpan for NEXT
In a NEXT series looking at case studies of strategic philanthropy, Annette Culpan reports on the San Francisco Foundation’s work to protect, produce and preserve affordable housing in Bay area - one ...
Covid-19 Opinion – What’s NEXT?
Our Relationship with Nature in the age of Covid-19 By Devon McLean NEXT Environmental Advisor What would happen in New Zealand if we applied the mutual care attitude we adopted during the Covi...
Project Janszoon – Birds, nature and no crowds – the new Abel Tasman National Park
by Polly Hudson for NEXT
The Abel Tasman National Park is open again to the public - and post Covid-19 lockdown there is a rare opportunity for New Zealanders to visit without the crowds.
It’s also a chance to experience s... 
Taranaki Mounga rejuvenated after Covid-19 lockdown by Polly Hudson for NEXT
The Covid-19 lockdown gave iconic Taranaki Mounga a chance to breathe and balance himself, according to the Chair of the Taranaki Mounga project and iwi leader Jamie Tuuta. The mounga, which has hu...
Ako Mākātupu : Teach First NZ – inequity challenges post lockdown by Nicholas Moody for NEXT
When secondary schools reopened this week under Covid -19 Level 2 protocol - there were extra challenges for teachers who are part of the Ako-Mātātupu: Teach First NZ programme. The teachers are ba...
Parenting Place’s Space programme a lifeline for new parents during lockdown by Nicholas Moody for NEXT
Isolation has been a challenge for new parents during the Covid-19 lockdown. But a NEXT supported programme - Space, which is part of the Parenting Place - has thrown them a lifeline by continuing ...
Rotoroa Island : Restoration legacy continues post Covid-19 by Polly Hudson for NEXT
Rotoroa Island has a history of restoration. Initially it served as an alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre under its owners The Salvation Army. For the past ten years The Rotoroa Island Trust...
The Tindall Foundation – Affordable housing by Annette Culpan for NEXT
In a NEXT series looking at case studies of strategic philanthropy, Annette Culpan reports on a partnership between The Tindall Foundation and New Zealand Housing Foundation to change the system of af...
Covid-19 lessons from Canterbury Earthquakes by Nicholas Moody for NEXT
The Springboard Trust is drawing on lessons from the Canterbury earthquakes to help school leaders navigate coming out of the Covid-19 crisis. SBT, which NEXT invests in, is continuing its strategi...
Covid-19 Opinion – What’s NEXT? An Agenda for Renewal that Starts with the People by Pat Snedden MNZM
Manaiakalani Education Trust and Auckland District Health Board Chair Pat Snedden has called on New Zealand to retrain and invest in our workforce - particularly in education and health - in the post ...
Predator Free Wellington: Lockdown – Stop, Look and Listen
by Polly Hudson for NEXT
Lockdown has allowed Wellington residents the opportunity to appreciate the mahi of its Predator Free Wellington project.
Birds have been spreading their wings and discovering new parts of the city- ... 
Manaiakalani – seamless switch to online learning
by Nicholas Moody for NEXT
School students who are part of the NEXT supported Manaiakalani programme have made a seamless transition to online learning during the Covid 19 lockdown.
The 20,000 children, all from low income c... 
Cacophony project repurposes predator cams to Covid-19 fever cams
Entrepreneur and inventor Grant Ryan - who runs the NEXT supported Cacophony Project, is using his kiwi ingenuity to repurpose a predator thermal camera design to help try and eliminate Covid 19. The ...
ZIP social isolators become lockdown socialisers
by Polly Hudson for NEXT
Some of the field rangers for Zero Invasive Predators - an initiative NEXT invests in - are extreme social isolators. They are used to spending ten days at time in remote South Island huts by themselv... 
Lifting our Aspirations – stories of strategic philanthropy from Aotearoa and beyond.
NEXT is delighted to share with you a new publication which focuses on fourteen case studies of strategic philanthropy both within New Zealand and overseas. Read more here. NEXT Newsletter – April 2020
Kia ora friend of NEXT. Welcome to the NEXT newsletter “Lockdown edition” - we hope you and your families are safe and well during these challenging times. Just as Aotearoa New Zealand was enter...
The Education Hub – Rising to the Challenge in the Covid-19 lockdown
by Nicholas Moody for NEXT
The Education Hub has become a valuable tool for school leaders, teachers and parents in the Covid-19 lockdown - with schools closed there has been a huge demand for its educational resources.
Dire... Lockdown advice for parents homeschoolingby Dr Nina Hood The Education Hub
NEXT education investment The Education Hub has become a go-to tool for teachers - and parents in the COVID-19 lockdown. With many parents now supervising their children’s education and trying to jugg...
What History Can Teach Us About Resilience
By NEXT CEO Bill Kermode
NEXT CEO Bill Kermode has had to change his sabbatical plans due to the COVID-19 crisis. But before lockdown he was privileged to travel to Antarctica and hear a story of resilience - with lessons we ... 