Stories from Te Tairāwhiti: flipping the script
Welcome to Part two of our blog series, highlighting the mahi of Tāiki E! Impact House and the Te Tairāwhiti Digital Equity Collective, supported by InternetNZ’s community funding.
Across the series, we share stories of people and partnerships reshaping digital equity on the East Coast. Here, the Waipāoa sweeps down through the flats, the Waimatā curls from the hills to meet the Taruheru, forming the Tūranganui at the heart of Gisborne. Further north, the mighty Waiapu carries the stories and strength of Ngāti Porou.
Our Community Engagement Manager Ana and Senior Community Advisor Ciara with some of the inspiring Te Tairāwhiti funding recipients. You’ll hear more about them in the upcoming blogs.
Flipping the script on the funding rules
Each year, we invest pūtea in communities across Aotearoa to make the Internet better for everyone. But the systems built for “robust” funding often create hurdles for those who need it most. We’ve learned that rigour can also build walls.
Digital equity sits at the heart of our kaupapa. Over the past six years, we’ve invested more than $3 million, not with ready-made answers, but by listening and learning that the strongest solutions come from the community itself.
So we asked: what if we stepped back from the overseer role and stood alongside as a partner, giving Te Tairāwhiti the space to decide what mattered most?
That’s how we found ourselves kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) with Tāiki E! Impact House — a lighthouse of innovation in Gisborne — exploring what a community-led funding model could be.
First comes trust
You can’t rush trust. You can’t slap it on like a coat of paint. It grows slowly through shared whakaaro (ideas and reflection), honest kōrero, mutual respect, and a few good laughs and kai along the way.
The vision was simple: let the community lead. Spark collective action that feels less like a process and more like a movement. Put power back in people's hands, honour local expertise, and let decisions rise from the ground up.
In practice, it was a dance — sometimes clumsy, sometimes graceful — but every step mattered.
Do we back proven projects that have carried the load for years, or place faith in fresh dreamers still learning to pitch? Do we kōrero or act fast in a community weary of endless talk, especially from outsiders?
Meanwhile, Te Tairāwhiti was reeling — floods, funding cuts, uncertainty. Long-standing organisations were at breaking point. Energy was low. Survival mode left little room for dreaming. Yet Tāiki E! held the space, proving collaboration isn’t a buzzword but a cultural shift from competition to collective vision. They carried this kaupapa into the community, testing ideas and sharing their toolkit of start-up weekends, innovation hubs, and creative problem-solving. Together, we imagined the process: pechakucha-style events, guided mentoring, co-designed frameworks, compressed sprints.
In their first report, Tāiki E! observed
“This openness has allowed for a dynamic, iterative process that can respond to challenges without compromising the integrity of the project. Unlike more rigid funder-recipient relationships, this high-trust approach has encouraged candid feedback, allowing both parties to learn and adapt collaboratively.” (Tāiki e! Insights report 1)
They were right. That trust gave people the courage to be bold, to experiment, to stumble and try again. It meant no one was punished for straying from the path.
Then comes action
We learned the only way forward was simply to begin. Action sparks motivation. As groups started collaborating, ideas quickly became projects. What began as working bees — helping in each other’s whare and learning about each other’s mahi — grew into five stand-alone projects that together formed the Te Tairāwhiti Digital Equity Collective.
These projects combined practical, community-driven solutions with longer-term ecosystem mapping and storytelling. Funding supported not only the mahi but also the relationships, with wānanga guiding the Collective’s first steps toward a shared vision.
In their second report, Tāiki E! wrote:
“The early wānanga was a critical turning point. It allowed us to move beyond transactional collaboration into a more intentional, values-based collective… ” (Tāiki e! Insights report 2)
Shanon (Director, Tōnui Collab) and Ciara at Tāiki e
Building momentum
Momentum grew quickly as the Collective opened the doors to new ideas, calling for innovation grants of up to $5,000. Applicants pitched to a panel, gaining valuable experience and feedback from local leaders.
For many, it was a first — their first application, their first pitch. With rangatira walking alongside them in a tuakana-teina model, the process shifted from intimidating to empowering. In the end, 11 projects were funded, with koha providing wrap-around support and mentoring.
As panel member Shanon (Director, Tōnui Collab) reflected:
“We appreciate the openness to do this from the community and with a group of people who would not necessarily be the ones making those decisions… the commitment to come to Tairāwhiti to participate, and the willingness to take time. It's important to all of us, and it speaks volumes.”
To connect collaboration with innovation, the Collective launched a roadshow along the East Coast — from Hauiti Marae in Tolaga Bay to the Wairoa Business Hub, Patutahi (Turanga Health Hui Kaumātua), Tokomaru Bay, and Rangitukia. These stops weren’t about polished solutions but about listening, creating space for kōrero, and connecting with hau kāinga.
In a third report from Tāiki E!, they observed:
“It reinforced the importance of maintaining direct engagement with remote communities, ensuring they are part of the regional digital equity movement rather than forgotten in its margins.” (Tairāwhiti Digital Equity Collective Project Report)
A principled approach
The projects reflected Te Ao Māori principles of tātau katoa (collective ownership), tātau kōtahi (unity of purpose), and tātau tātau (collaborative empowerment). These weren’t just aspirations but the backbone of the funding model — shaping applications, decision-making, and mentoring alongside pūtea. The outcome was a more holistic cohort than traditional contestable funding rounds, with layers that uplifted the community as a whole.
Special thanks to Shanon, Panapa and Zane for their expertise on pitch day, and to Polly, Lily and Zane for mentoring the innovators.
Next up — part 3: uniting for digital equity
In the next blog in this series, we’ll share how the new Te Tairāwhiti Digital Equity Collective is taking action to reshape digital equity across the Coast.
InternetNZ funding
This partnership is supported through funding from our community grants programme, which exists thanks to the people and businesses who choose a .nz domain name. Every .nz helps us give back to communities, enabling projects like this one that grow digital equity, innovation, and opportunity across Aotearoa New Zealand.
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