From the Chair and CE

Nau mai, haere mai. 

Welcome to our 'Year In Review 2023/2024' Special Edition.

There is no denying the past few years have been tough and have taken their toll on our communities. Several key issues that adversely impact people's lives, like access to affordable housing, equitable education opportunities, effective mental health support, and a sustainable environment, have become more prevalent.

At Rātā Foundation, data and evidence drive our work.   We know that our funding makes the biggest difference in the lives of people with the greatest need.

Over the past financial year, we have continued to focus our community investment on creating an equitable and sustainable society, with a particular emphasis on tackling issues in housing, mental health, education, and conservation.    

We strengthen our work by building strategic and innovative partnerships that maximise social impact returns for the community in a way that will endure.   This is central to the way we work.

We will continue to focus on this work in the year ahead. You can read more about the impact we are already making later in this edition.

We are pleased to report that our financial performance has been strong over the last twelve months and that we are well-positioned to meet any bumps in the road. Our investment portfolio returned 12.8% exceeding expectation by 1.6 percent. This amounts to $76m which is a fantastic result that has allowed us to meet our commitments to the community and grow the fund to over $685m.  This was particularly pleasing after a challenging financial year in 2023.

We know smart, values-based investment management is critical to delivering long-term community impact, and this remains one of our top priorities.   Our goal is to invest sustainably, leaving our natural, human, and cultural resources stronger and healthier.

Click here to learn more about our financial performance in 2023/2024.

We are excited to launch and share with you our redeveloped website in early October.   Ensuring a quality user experience was the primary driver of the website's redevlopment design. We want people to understand who we are and what we do and be able to navigate easily to the information they need to apply or look for resources that will help strengthen their work.  

In early October we will also launch our investment website – Rātā Invest. The microsite will provide visibility and transparency to our investment work.

Lastly, our heartfelt thanks to our stakeholders and partners who work with us in both financial and community investment for your support of Rātā; we could not play the role we do in the community without you.

Ngā mihi nui

Glen Livingstone                                            Leighton Evans

Chair                                                              Chief Executive