Rīpoata Tumuaki | Chief Executive’s Report
Outward Bound CE Malindi MacLean (right of banner) and Tākere Schools course donor Pen Gough (left of banner) at the 2022 Tākere Schools course celebration, Christchurch 2022.
In Anakiwa we often use the whakataukī ka whati te tai, ka pao te tōrea (as the tide recedes the oystercatcher strikes). It’s a proverb about taking opportunities when they present themselves, before the tide closes on the chance.
How well our young people are doing tells us a lot about our wellbeing as a nation overall. I think we’d all agree that the past few years' events have placed unique pressures on our rangatahi; stresses that are now revealing themselves through a range of mental health and societal issues. We are seeing some of this on our courses.
It’s incredibly satisfying to be able to have recovered so well. This year, we served 1718 students, the exact same number as our record year pre-pandemic. However, it is not the time to rest on our laurels. After working so hard to return to ‘normal’ after the pandemic we now have the opportunity to apply the learnings and ensure our ‘new normal’ is more resilient, more impactful and more relevant than ever before.
This past year has proven that it has been harder to do the exact same thing as before. Rising costs, changing climate, increasing complexity and the evolving needs of our students mean that the way we have operated for the last 61 years will not be the way we will operate for the next 61.
To the incredibly passionate and hardworking team at Outward Bound, I take a bow. Our people have done an outstanding job of getting this organization back on track and in this experience, improved our agility and resilience.
In this vein, we have completed the first year of our One in Every Whare strategy. Our goal is to grow our capacity to reach 6000 students per year, and that these students are reflective of the population we serve.
To support this growth strategy, we moved our primary office from Wellington to Auckland. We are very actively hunting in the Coromandel for the perfect site for our second school. We believe we might be close. We have been very deliberate about diversity, equity & inclusion as we prepare to scale up our operations to reflect a growing and diversifying population. As part of this we’ve invested in training for our student facing team as they need a broader skillset to respond to the needs of young New Zealanders today.
This ever evolving youth landscape has seen us innovate our programme offering to rangatahi accordingly. One of these programmes is our Whakatipu|Growth programme focussed on youth employability. Now in its second year, it continues to demonstrate Outward Bound’s ever increasing relevance to young people today. We are now running this programme 5 times per year in partnership with employers, and expect it to be a cornerstone of our second school.
None of this is possible without the support of our partners and donor community. I have come to believe that supporting Outward Bound is an act of hope. That is because investing in young people is investing in our future. We have been supported over the last 60 years by people who hoped for a better Aotearoa New Zealand. Surviving Covid was possible because of this enduring hope and support from our donors.
The next phase will be no different. As the tide recedes and we make some bold moves towards a sustainable future, it will only be with the ongoing support of our donor community. Together we will serve more young New Zealanders for many years to come.
In March, I stepped out of the organisation for four months on parental leave and welcomed my second pēpi. Simon Graney helmed the waka during that time as acting CE and did an outstanding job, while maintaining momentum in his own role.
I am eternally grateful to the board, my amazing team, and the wider Outward Bound community for the unconditional support I have received while navigating this precious and challenging time. The passion and commitment of this organisation and its people is unique, and is what make us well positioned to broaden our horizon.
The moment is now to be bold and brave. Like the tōrea | oystercatcher, we must not wait until the tide is closing on our opportunity. Thank you to everyone for your support.
Ka whati te tai, ka pao te tōrea.Malindi MacLeanTumuaki | Chief Executive
