August 2026: New Kaikōkiri Announced

The J R McKenzie Trust is pleased to announce its most recent funding recipients.

Cahoots Ltd

$200K

Based in Wellington, Cahoots creates safe, welcoming spaces where women and gender minorities build practical capabilities. Its mahi is focused on growing skills, confidence and mana, opening pathways into the trades, and leading transformational change in safety and equity, with an aim to shift the wider culture and workforce of the trades over time.⁠ ⁠⁠This funding will support the establishment of Cahoots Tradies, a social enterprise that delivers trade services by women and gender minorities, creating paid, supported work opportunities in an industry where these groups remain significantly underrepresented and often face unsafe or exclusionary workplace cultures.

Empower Youth Trust

$150K

Empower Youth Trust is a refugee-youth-led organisation dedicated to eradicating educational inequities and enhancing leadership opportunities for refugee youth. Its work is rooted in addressing systemic barriers to education through comprehensive programmes, including workshops, peer-to-peer mentoring, and capacity-building initiatives, all tailored to meet the unique needs of refugee communities. This funding will support the Trust’s ongoing mission to empower young refugees by providing them with the skills, knowledge, and networks they need to succeed, ensuring they are not only participants but leaders in their communities.

The Learning Environment

$300K

The Learning Environment is a place-based, community-led organisation based at Pīwaiwaka Farm, a 72-hectare regenerating farm and forest on the banks of the Whanganui River. It works at the intersection of learning, wellbeing, and ecology to support tamariki, rangatahi, whānau, and community to reconnect with whenua, strengthen wellbeing, build capability, and actively participate in creating thriving shared futures. This funding will support the next stage of development of the Akoranga Team which is focused on education and community engagement, and enable The Learning Environment to move to an integrated, community-led learning ecosystem that provides unique transformational pathways for every learner.

Just Move Charitable Health Trust (BBM)

$110K

South Auckland–based Just Move Charitable Health Trust (known as Buttabean Motivation or BBM) is a community-led organisation grounded in a kaupapa of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, and meeting people where they are. BBM exists to support individuals and whānau who have been underserved by traditional health systems, providing free, culturally-responsive programmes that integrate physical activity, practical nutrition education, and mental wellbeing support. This funding will enable BBM to deepen and expand this impact – supporting more whānau, strengthening community connection, and improving long-term wellbeing outcomes.

Mana Tāhuna Charitable Trust

$300K

Based in Tāhuna Queenstown, Mana Tāhuna Charitable Trust is a kaupapa Māori organisation serving whānau across the Queenstown Lakes, Upper Clutha, and wider Central Otago rohe. Established to respond to the needs and aspirations of Māori in one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s fastest-growing regions, Mana Tāhuna delivers integrated services across hauora, rangatahi, employment pathways, environmental restoration, cultural revitalization, and community resilience. This funding will support the next stage of Mana Tāhuna’s economic development and long-term sustainability, increasing self-determination, creating employment pathways, and enabling intergenerational strategy and impact.

Ngahere Foundation

$50K

Ngahere Foundation is a Māori-led not-for-profit organisation based in South Auckland. Its kaupapa is to support Māori and Moana creators, innovators and entrepreneurs to grow their ideas into ventures, leadership and employment. This funding will support two initiatives that create practical pathways into employment and enterprise: a paid internship designed to enable rangatahi to gaining hands-on experience; and the first production release of Ē Kai, a dinnerware range designed by emerging Māori artists. These two initiatives sit within the Foundation’s broader approach of connecting creative development with real-world application, supporting rangatahi and emerging practitioners through practical, applied opportunities.