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Kia ora koutou
We want to start this update by expressing our heartfelt thanks to all of you for your support and ongoing commitment to Guiding. It has been so encouraging to see some of the great activities that have been happening across NZ, and the idea sharing that is happening across the country. If you are ever short of ideas, we really recommend our GGNZ Facebook communities for inspiration.
One of the biggest challenges for us as a Leadership Team this term has been to make some key directional decisions and act on these. The past four years have been tough, and we need to make some changes in how we work to ensure our continued viability. Our focus currently is on “consolidating and improving”, which means focusing on our core programmes and supporting our members and communities and aligning our staff, systems and processes to these.
The ‘Futures Project’ is key to shaping our organisation and we are grateful that so many of you were able to participate in the consultation. The feedback received has resulted in changes to the initial proposal and we are now in the final consultation stage with the staff team.
We, along with the Board, acknowledge how difficult this period has been for the staff team, and are very aware that the decisions made have a huge impact on their lives. Over the next few days staff will be invited to apply for roles in the organisation. The staff team is being reduced but focused on Volunteer Support and core business services like property and finance. We anticipate confirming the new structure by April 21st. We ask that you continue to be sensitive to their situation.
There are currently several vacancies on our Board – have you thought about putting yourself forward? If you are interested more information is available on Leaders Hub, and we are still taking applications. We are grateful to our Forum members who have stepped forward to be part of the Nominations Committee and the Selection Committee. These panels are essential to our progress in recruiting for a new Board Chair and new Association Leaders to join the Board. We look forward to updating you as we move through this process with the assistance of Sport NZ and the Institute of Directors.
Our recruitment for an Interim Chief Executive has kicked off, and advertisements for the role will be appearing next week. We ask that you share this with your networks and anyone you think may be a suitable candidate.
Arrangements for a delegation to attend WAGGGS World Conference 2023 are underway. Our delegation will be Judith Bright (Guiding Quality Adviser) as our Head Delegate and Ciara Gibson (Board Member) supporting her in a Delegate role. World Conference is being held in Cyprus at the end of July.
Closer to home, we are excited to announce the launch of our inaugural Matariki Badge. The staff team have been hard at work consulting on appropriate clauses and designing an awesome badge (the stars even glow in the dark!) we can’t wait for you to see it. A resource pack will be released shortly, showcasing the nine stars of Matariki, with a range of activities for all sections.
Finally, we encourage you to view our short video update on Leaders Hub (and also being circulated via email) – producing this video was a first for us (and we are sure the outtakes will come back to haunt us in a blooper reel at some point!), but we were determined to provide you with an update and wish you a very happy and relaxing Easter break in person!
Ngā mihi
Mirjam Oord Angela Reeve
Deputy Board Chair Acting Chief Executive