Seeds – Details, episodes & analysis

This is a panel discussion from the Community Housing Aotearoa 2026 Conference held this week where I was asked to facilitate the panel on this topic of "Can we build it?  Yes we can!".

The new Community Housing Guide from Parry Field Lawyers mentioned is a free download here https://www.parryfield.com/property/community-housing/ 

Community Housing Funding Agency mentioned by Luke: https://chfa.co.nz 

Signature Homes mentioned by Gareth: https://www.signature.co.nz 

Tamaki Regeneration mentioned by Shelley: https://tamakiregeneration.co.nz 

For more content also visit Community Housing Aotearoa site: https://communityhousing.org.nz 

And more episodes of seeds are at www.theseeds.nz 

In this episode we hear from Jenny Gill, Robyn Scott, Sue Barker, Craig Fisher and Steven Moe about recently announced changes on donation tax credits.  Here is the cover email with more info that was sent out with video link:

Thanks to all who joined Jenny Gill, Robyn Scott, Craig Fisher, Sue Barker and I for the webinar on charities and the cap on donation tax credits. Whether you were able to join us live or not, we wanted to make sure you have access to everything that was shared and discussed.

You can watch the full recording of the webinar here: https://youtu.be/DRO5iGt1N0Q

Feel free to forward this on to someone who might be interested.

The following are some resources shared during the webinar:
•    Philanthropy NZ letter to ministers signed by over 60 individuals and organisations – attached
•    CID Letter to Ministers on the Proposed Cap to Donations Tax Credit – attached
•    PHD Thesis on Government Financial Support for the Charitable Sector in New Zealand, referenced by IRD – view here
•    Paper by Dr Juliet Chevalier-Watts and Steven Moe on charities, tax, and the missing analysis – view here
•    Article by Sue Barker on Donations tax credits - whose money is it anyway? – view here
•    Paper from Parry Field Lawyers and webinar recoding on all changes for charities in Budget 2026 (including the positive ones!) – view here 

Next Steps
As a panel, we will regroup to consider the most strategic path forward. In the meantime, here is how you can get involved:
•    Write to your local Member of Parliament or the relevant ministers to share your concerns and the reasons behind them
•    If you have had any direct responses from ministers regarding this issue, please share that information with Robyn Scott at Philanthropy NZ, who is acting as a central point of contact
•    If you would like to add your name to the open letter to ministers, please reach out to Philanthropy NZ directly
•    Share the webinar recording link with your networks to raise awareness across the sector
•    Consider how we could start being more proactive as a sector about both research and policy preparation (if that strikes a chord let me know) to move away from being reactive all the time.  
•    Look out for further information from IRD, who indicated they will be releasing additional papers behind the decision-making process in July 2026
•    Continue to explore ways any charities you are involved with can raise general awareness of their value to society

A further webinar may be scheduled once more information is available. We will keep you updated.

This is my conversation with Shamubeel for the Seeds Impact Conference.  

You can listen to other panel sessions from the Seeds Impact Conference on seeds or watch videos at www.parryfield.com 

More on Simplicity is here Simplicity KiwiSaver Scheme - Low-cost and ethical Investment funds | Simplicity

Simone Woodland joined me for episode 397 to talk about her life and the Tākaka Cohousing Project (Tākaka Cohousing | Golden Bay (takakacohousing.co.nz)) which is an amazing example of an innovative project that combines both housing + community + nature + regeneration. 

I've been involved with providing legal support since this project began several years ago.

In this interview we talk about Simone's background and origins in the UK, her becoming an architect, working on social enterprises there and then moving to Aotearoa New Zealand and how she decided to come here. 

The project describes values like this:  "As a purpose driven housing developer we are committed to supporting the health of the whenua and community through regenerative and replicable cohousing models. Our team are committed to the values of kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga and courage."

Community & Privacy: Privacy is important to us. We have thoughtful designed home layouts that create privacy between the homes and gardens for peace and tranquility. The shared spaces are designed for community events, connection and collective food growing.

Shared Resources: Shared resources offer a range of benefits, contributing to sustainability, affordability and community wellbeing. By sharing tools, equipment, and facilities, we are building an efficient system that provides more equality and support to our residents.

Sustainable Design: To create a safe space for our children to play, cohousing neighbourhoods choose to keep the cars to the outside. This allows for a park like setting with more space for growing food, gardens, play spaces and the community to meet and interact.

Article for The Spinoff on the project: https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/21-06-2022/is-community-led-home-ownership-the-way-of-the-future

For more episodes and the link in podcasting apps, visit www.theseeds.nz

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3QdRBsKdWUrdRWkyr0tQbo
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/seeds/id1281908185?mt=2#episodeGuid=bf08f2d2ecacad03d93e59e8fa89960a
Google podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9zZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw== 

This is the audio of an article that I wrote that was just published in The Press on street art and what it says about identity and new stories being told in Õtautahi Christchurch.  The orgins directly relate to Seeds Podcast as I had a conversation on Street Art with Dr Reuben Woods a while ago (here) and always thought the topic would make a great article.  So I wrote it up and this was published on 8 June 2024 as the lead article in the Mainlander section of The Press.  This is the audio of me reading out the article. 

For the print version it is here:  https://www.thepress.co.nz/culture/350297693/rise-street-art-otautahi-christchurch 

Watch This Space website: https://watchthisspace.org.nz/

Toi Õtautahi  https://toiotautahi.org.nz/ 

Interview with Reuben which inspired the article https://theseeds.nz/podcast/dr-reuben-woods-on-the-street-art-of-christchurch-and-watch-this-space/ 

The book by Peter Simpson mentioned "Bloomsbury South: The Arts in Christchurch 1933-1953" https://aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/bloomsbury-south/

This is the audio of a talk I gave yesterday for Community Governance Aotearoa on the topic of Chairing meetings and with a focus on AGMs.  I do a lot of support for boards, companies, trusts and others in goverance in my work as a partner at Parry Field Lawyers so it was a pleasure to talk on this topic.  In it share my thoughts on this area and outline 20 principles that are relevant to consider when you come to your role as Chair.

More resources that Community Goverannce Aotearoa provide are here (thanks for the chance to share Rose, April, Elyse and team) https://communitygovernance.org.nz/

If this helps you then why not share with one other person?

The 20 principles will be uploaded here and the other resource mentioned in talk on chairing meetings: https://www.parryfield.com/advisory/governance/governance-essentials/ 

Enjoyed this conversation with Neil Ieremia about Black Grace dance company and his life as a choreographer – we start with his childhood and learned about his upbringing, the role of his parents, the impact of a childhood illness and sense of identity from a young age.  We also talk about the origins of Black Grace and the first dance he choreographed at age 13.  We then discuss the role of art and dance and how it can have an impact on society itself, commenting on the past and present.  Finally we discuss the future plans for Black Grace.

Website: https://blackgrace.co.nz/

For more conversations visit www.theseeds.nz

In this panel discussion arranged by Ministry of Awesome, got the chance to share about governance for startups along with Flip Grater, Jeff Wallace and Zach Warder-Gabaldon.  We kept it practical and relevant for founders on what you need to know when it comes to advisory boards, directors, legal duties, paying people, finding the right fit, selecting investors, how to keep on track and quite a lot more!  If you like this, check out the other content at www.theseeds.nz 

Resource on how to chair a meeting well: https://www.parryfield.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/How-to-Chair-a-Meeting-Well.pdf 

"Ministry of Awesome presents a dynamic panel of expert advisors offering quick-fire advice to guide you through the early stages of your business journey. Our experts will demystify industry jargon about governance and structure and clarify how today's decisions can impact the future success of your business."

Bios on panellists

Zach: Zach is responsible for developing and managing the startup innovation programmes at Ministry of Awesome. After spending two and half decades in the Valley immersed in and surrounded by entrepreneurship and innovation, he is incredibly well equipped to helping Aotearoa's startup sector realise its potential as a unique and powerful incubation nation.

Jeff: Jeff is a long-time Bay Area resident who works with global startup ecosystems, including governments, corporations & startup accelerators/entrepreneurs, to help catalyze startup environments & create a bridge to Silicon Valley. He is an Adjunct Instructor at UC Berkeley and is co-founder of Silicon Valley in Your Pocket, a global virtual startup accelerator, serving 1000s of companies across 40+ countries. He is co-founder & former President of Batchery, an incubator for seed stage startups. He is an active angel investor with equity positions in 250+ companies and an active advisor & investor at Berkeley SkyDeck. He is an Executive Board Member for the Rutgers Business School Road to Silicon Valley Program (RSVP). Previously, he worked at Cognizant & Brillio as founder & Global Head for Mobility & UX practices. He is a frequent keynote speaker at global tech & startup events. He holds a BA in Economics/Finance from Rutgers College & an MBA from UC Berkeley.

Flip: Flip Grater is an author, musician and activist, founder and CEO, chef and entrepreneur. After 15 years in the music industry as a music label owner and singer-songwriter, touring the world and releasing five albums and two books she moved home to Otautahi and started plant based food production company and restaurant Grater Goods. She is currently the CEO of Grater Goods and a Press columnist.

Steven: Steven Moe is a Partner at Parry Field Lawyers with a focus on start-ups and small business and helping them succeed through practical support on topics such as structures, shareholders, raising capital and IP. He has edited free guides for startups including this one on raising capital and this one on common start-up issues. He has worked as a lawyer for 20 years including 11 years overseas based in Tokyo, London and Sydney, and since 2016 has been based back in Aotearoa. Steven hosts seeds podcast which has a focus on "for purpose" organisations and people doing inspiring things which has 388 episodes and another on governance for the IOD called Board Matters.

So what really is Impact Investing?  A short explanation ...

(This is the transript of the episode and all the links mentioned in it)

Having now interviewed almost 400 guests on Seeds Podcast a recurring theme which has emerged is how they are using impact investing to effect positive change in our society.  A question I get all the time though - both from companies, charities, directors and Trustees is - what exactly are you meaning when you keep talking about the rise of Impact Investing?  

So let's break it down and give you some further listening if it does interest you.  

First the traditional approach.  Someone has a spare $10 million dollars - now this is a hypothetical scenario rather than being my situation.  Anyway, they have a choice about where they put that money.  One option is a traditional approach which means they put it into a long term deposit which makes interest.  They get some financial return, even if it is relatively low, and the offshore owned banks recycle that money to make themselves a nice profit.  

Impact investing steps in at this point and offers another approach.  What if that person has a particular cause that they care about - unfortunately the list is long - social housing, food deprivation for children, education on mental health and suicide prevention, climate change and green tech - there are many needs.  Let's choose social housing because I know it really well.

So what if our friend took a portion of that $10 million and invested it into a startup company that wanted to provide social housing - this could be as equity and result in owning shares, or it could be as debt and they would have a loan they make.  The crux of the difference with traditional investing is that they would be able to make a financial return because it is not a donation, it is an investment.  But at the same time they would be able to have impact which is far greater and more satisfying than the interest they make from that long term deposit.

I am not saying they invest the full $10 million they have, but they do invest a portion of it - doing so may involve some risk but often ethically motivated companies that provide real solutions to our most wicked problems perform better, not worse, than traditional investments - and a tsunami of consumer support for such initiatives is on its way as people consider the supply chain and where their products come from.  

Even easier than a direct investment might be joining a fund which has those ethical lenses and thinks about where they put their money - and this is a choice that each of us can easily make with our Kiwisaver - I'll put the links to Pathfinder, Simplicity and Generate as examples of that.

A real life example of this approach is Community Finance where I am the Chair of the Board.  We identified social housing as a massive need and we support Community Housing Providers by providing them with finance at a lower rate than mainstream banks, which we get from philanthropic investors and Kiwisaver funds like those I just mentioned.  Have we raised $50k or $100k for this?  No, actually in just a few years we have pulled together more than $160m for this. Before you all knock on the door this is for wholesale investors, rather than retail investors.  

So that is what impact investing is - simple, right?  We may be on the cusp of going even further though. 

Recently I released a legal opinion on how I think Trustees of large Trusts or Foundations that sit on large untapped pools of wealth now have a duty to consider Impact Investing and where their funds are invested - Shamubeel Eaqub interviewed me about that and why I think the law itself has changed for Seeds and will put a link to that in the show notes.  The point is that those funds that have billions of dollars in aggregate often were set up by a founder who wanted to tackle one of those problems in society, but the Trustees only think about how they can use income from their traditional investments - instead they should have a blue skies moment to think about how they invest the capital itself because where they invest it might be a means to advance their purposes.

If all this is intriguing but you are after real lives and understanding the people who are leading the way then I can recommend the following seeds episodes, among many dozens of others:

Shamubeel Eaqub in conversation with Steven Moe on the rise of Impact Investing: https://theseeds.nz/podcast/shamubeel-eaqub-in-conversation-with-steven-moe-on-impact-investing/ 

Impact Investing Legal Opinion as audio book: https://theseeds.nz/podcast/impact-investing-legal-opinion-audio-version-read-by-steven-moe/ 

Brianne West and Esha Chabra on Regenerative Business https://theseeds.nz/podcast/brianne-west-esha-chhabra-on-regenerative-business-seeds-conference-session/ 

John Berry on Ethical Investing https://seeds.libsyn.com/john-berry-on-ethical-investing 

A post-growth future and what it means for larger business: Seeds Conference session with Jennifer Wilkins, Dr Katherine Trebeck & Dr Donnie Macluran
https://theseeds.nz/podcast/a-post-growth-future-and-what-it-means-for-larger-business-seeds-conference-session-with-jennifer-wilkins-dr-katherine-trebeck-dr-donnie-macluran/ 

Regenerative and Blended Finance: Seeds Conference Session with Rosalie Nelson from EHF and Andrew Hewitt, Satya Kumar, Brad Leibov and Laina Greene https://theseeds.nz/podcast/regenerative-and-blended-finance-seeds-conference-session-with-rosalie-nelson-from-ehf-and-andrew-hewitt-satya-kumar-brad-leibov-and-laina-greene/ 

Safe Wongsunopparat on measuring Social Impact and proactively making decisions that change your life https://theseeds.nz/podcast/safe-wongsunopparat-on-measuring-social-impact-and-proactively-making-decisions-that-change-your-life/ 

Nathaniel Calhoun on preserving Biodiversity and effecting system change: https://theseeds.nz/podcast/nathaniel-calhoun-on-preserving-biodiversity-and-effecting-systems-change/ 

Bill Murphy on the Purpose Capital Impact Fund https://theseeds.nz/podcast/bill-murphy-on-the-purpose-capital-impact-fund/ 

Tā Tipene O'Regan on the people who shaped his life https://theseeds.nz/podcast/ta-tipene-oregan-on-the-people-who-shaped-his-life/ 

Joanne McEachen on Joy and Innovating in Education, and bringing an Indigenous perspective to global conversations https://theseeds.nz/podcast/joanne-mceachen-on-joy-and-innovating-in-education-and-bringing-an-indigenous-perspective-to-global-conversations/ 

Israel Cooper https://seeds.libsyn.com/israel-cooper-on-home-community-people-and-purpose 

Impact investing Network https://www.impactinvestingnetwork.nz 

In this conversation with Jeff Wetzler he reflects on his new book "Ask: Tapping into the hidden wisdom of people around you".  We talk about the approach that it involves and the five key steps that it involves.  

But before that like all seeds podcast episodes we go back in time and find out about Jeff's origins and what has led him to write this book - because this show is not a moment in time or just talking about today, it is capturing a whole of life story and finding out why a person does what they do.  

So we talk about his childhood, early years growing up and moving around, what he studied and his first jobs so as to get a more complete picture.  I met Jeff through the Edmund Hillary Fellowship which we are both part of, and this is one of about 25 interviews with Fellows I've talked to over the years.  If you enjoy this why not look at the back catalogue too as there are evergreen conversations with almost 400 other people who share their wisdom on diverse topics - www.theseeds.nz  has more.

Website for the Ask Approach book: https://www.askapproach.com 

* Amazon link to order the book 
* Recent HBR article
* Free Assessment: https://Assessment.AskApproach.com  
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-wetzler-9ba3824/  
* Instagram: AskApproach

Current organization: www.TranscendEducation.org  

From the website, the 5 elements discussed in the podcast are:

"The Ask Approach™ is a research-backed method for learning from people around you, with five key steps:

- Choose curiosity, so you are genuinely interested in what others think, feel, and know
- Make it safe, so it's more comfortable and appealing for others to tell you the truth.
- Pose quality questions, which uncover what's most important to people
- Listen to learn, so you are truly hearing what matters most to them
- Reflect and reconnect, to translate what you hear into the right insights and actions"