Your Feedback Shapes Our Future
Published on 2 September, 2025
Kia ora
Over the past year, we’ve been reimagining how the Waikato Women’s Fund works - not to return to what was, but to build something that reflects the lives we’re actually living.
From those conversations, and from many cups of tea, hui, and moments of honest reflection, we’ve created a working document - The Guiding Principles for the Waikato Women’s Fund.
This is NOT a rigid governance manual. It’s a living expression of our values, purpose, and the way we choose to lead together - through the Kaitiaki Circle, a flexible, open model where women step in and out of leadership roles as life allows.
It’s about seasons of contribution, shared care, and keeping the heart of the Waikato Women’s Fund beating: collective giving that uplifts women and girls across the Waikato.
We’re announcing it to you now because it’s not 'finished' - and that’s intentional. We want your thoughts before we finalise it.
We’d love to hear…
What resonates most for you?
What feels unclear or needs more detail?
What excites you about this approach?
Anything you think we’ve missed?
The draft document is at momentumwaikato.nz/waikato-womens-fund-guiding-principles. Please take a read and email us with your feedback.
There’s no wrong way to show up here - your ideas, questions, and reflections all matter. This is how we build something that’s truly ours.
Ngā mihi nui,
Melissa Gibson, Pam Roa and Natasha Harvey
on behalf of the Waikato Women’s Fund Kaitiaki Circle and Momentum Waikato.
PS: That web address above also points to our other news - the Waikato Women’s Fund has moved its online presence to a dedicated section of the Momentum Waikato website, so please check out momentumwaikato.nz/waikatowomensfund, where you’ll find all our content carried over and updated, and know that the old site at ‘waikatowomensfund.nz’ will close down in a few weeks.
