CEO Report | Rīpoata Tumuaki
He toka tū moana describes being steadfast and strong, like a rock in the ocean. While it usually refers to the strength of leaders, this whakataukī reflects the last year for Outward Bound in many ways.
Over the last 12 months, we’ve been steadfast in our commitment to reset this organisation for the future. Rising costs and growing complexity have put pressure on our ability to invest for change. Economic headwinds, capacity constraints and the ever-increasing challenges that today’s young people face mean it’s harder and more costly for us to do the same thing we have always done.
Despite this, we’re investing in our people, technology, infrastructure and capability to make us stronger, more relevant and more accessible for future generations. To support growth, our office support team is now based primarily from our Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland office and we’ve closed our Pōneke Wellington office after many decades.
Given this change that’s focused on tomorrow, I’m proud of the steadfast leadership our whole team has shown in upholding our mission for our students today. We’ve served slightly more students than ever before, strengthened our iwi relationships, grown our student demographics and continued to innovate to ensure we stay relevant.
Some student highlights this year: we ran our first leadership course dedicated to not-for-profit CEOs. We partnered with Auckland Chamber of Commerce to provide a six-month mentorship programme for students upon completing their course. I’m incredibly proud of Te Toki o Awa, a pilot course that we ran in partnership with mana whenua Te Ātiawa.
With the support of our amazing donors, we’ve completed the development and build of a new high ropes course which makes us safer and more inclusive. We continue to lead the industry with unique recruitment and training processes, as well as innovative course designs that cater to the varied needs of our rainbow, ethnic and disabled communities. I firmly believe that supporting Outward Bound is an act of hope. But it’s also a strategic investment in our future generations, and this year it’s exciting to share with you some global research into Outward Bound that supports this.
Globally, Outward Bound has a Social Return on Investment ratio (SROI) of 1:9, which is world leading. This tells us what we already know, Outward Bound is transforming people, communities and the world for the better.
This annual report celebrates hautūtanga (leadership). The leadership of our students, our partners, and our donors. It also reflects our ongoing commitment to show leadership in Aotearoa, underpinned by our ‘One in Every Whare’ strategy (over a generation, we aspire to reach one in ten Kiwi).
This mahi is not ours alone. To everyone who has supported us in the last year, thank you for standing alongside us and for believing in our amazing young people as much as we do. He toka tū moana.
Malindi MacLean Tumuaki/CEO
