Our Mahi
TĀIKI E! IMPACT HOUSE
Kickstarting the Aroha Economy from Tairāwhiti
Kiko Innovation has powered up Tāiki e!, Tairāwhiti’s first Impact House in the heart of Gisborne that connects people with purpose together. Tāiki e! is a collaborative space with a shared agenda for social and environmental action.
Tāiki e! brings together people who are passionate about creating systemic change using collaborative design principles, entrepreneurial thinking and “leading with aroha”. It is a space for changemakers who question the status quo and want to work with others to pursue durable, positive changes within Te Tairāwhiti and beyond.
RANGATAHI ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Growing the Next Generation of Leaders
Entrepreneurial skills are becoming more and more essential for our next generation of leaders. We are engaging our young people in entrepreneurship to help develop their skills around creativity, problem solving, resilience, independence, professionalism, collaboration, empathy and leadership.
Entrepreneurship isn’t just about starting companies; it is a skillset and a way of thinking. We’re passionate about empowering rangatahi to innovate, create, and discover their potential. That’s why we have created innovative and fun entrepreneurship curriculum, training, and even created a rangatahi freelancer marketplace!
TAIRĀWHITI INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM MAPPING
Mapping our Current Entrepreneurial Landscape
“An Innovation ecosystem is made up of enabling policies and regulations, accessibility of finance, informed human capital, supportive markets, energy, transport and communications Infrastructure, a culture of supportive of innovation and entrepreneurship, and networking assets, which together support productive relationships between different actors and others parts of the ecosystem” (International Development Innovation Alliance)
Kiko Innovation is currently working on a project to map the current state of Tairāwhiti’s innovation ecosystem. We have designed an initial framework and are currently working with regional partners to undertake the mapping process. This is a community driven process that seeks to produce clearer evidence and visibility of assets and gaps across the Tairāwhiti region - enabling greater focus and collaboration around shared interests/opportunities.
FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Using Design Thinking to Generate Fresh Approaches
Kiko Innovation is working with Tauawhi Men's Centre and Manaaki Tairāwhiti to develop an innovative community-led approach to engaging a diverse cross section of community participants in exploring and implementing new strategies to addressing family violence in our community.
Our approach uses mixed methods including matauranga Māori, design thinking and community-based action research to generate fresh ideas that lead to tangible impactful actions in our community.
STARTUP WEEKEND TAIRĀWHITI
Unleasing the entrepreneurial taniwha in our region
Startup Weekend Tairāwhiti is an annual weekend long event where entrepreneurs, startup enthusiasts, developers, designers, marketers, community changemakers, passionate people and creative thinkers come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups!
Now in it's fourth year, Startup Weekend Tairāwhiti is all about creating positive impact in our communities and region. The Kiko Innovation team have been at the forefront of supporting this community-led initiative since its inception.
TECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Building Pathways into Technology
Kiko Innovation is working with Orawa Tairāwhiti and the Enspiral Dev Academy to help build career pathways for our people into the tech workforce. Our team supports cohorts of learners from Tairāwhiti to learn to code with industry professionals, and graduate as a work-ready programmer in just 15 weeks.
Through offering wrap around support and a positive environment to learn within, learners build the required technical and human skills needed to start their careers within the tech industry.
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT
Inspiring Tamariki to be Financially Empowered
Kiko Innovation is working with the team at Banqer to help inspire tamariki in our Tairāwhiti region to be curious, creative and confident with money. Banqer is an online financial education platform that provides a hands on environment for primary and secondary age students to engage with financial concepts in a safe and fun way at school. Learning these skills at a young age has been shown to markedly improve a range of long term economic and social outcomes.
Our team are currently working with the team at Banqer to explore ways that we can enable students to earn real money based on their achievement in the virtual Banqer space, that will invested directly into new Kiwisaver accounts established for them.