Upskills

Health and safety performance in New Zealand is poor and it's costing us lives.
It's also costing our economy - to the tune of $5.4 billion last year.
What can you do, at your workplace, to do better?
It starts with conversation, and being open to hearing honest answers followed up by action and accountability.

“I’m old school and I don’t like pushing buttons – but I Iike this ChatGPT!”

That's a quote from one of our learners on the Digital Jumpstart programme and it tells you everything you need to know about learning.

It's not about being perfect. It's not about knowing it all.
It's about having the confidence to try something new.

Why is Project Ikuna Money Confidence specifically for Pasifika? It's not a quick, soundbite answer, but an important conversation. Here's some of the thinking:

1. Project Ikuna is part of the Alo Vaka Skills Shift Project, launched post Covid - because the pandemic disproportionately affected Pasifika communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, compounding existing and long-standing inequitable social and economic outcomes.

2. Long standing inequitable social and economic outcomes⬆️. Pacific peoples have a median income of $24,300 compared to $34,500 for Europeans. Rates of home ownership sit at 21% for Pasifika and 58% for Europeans. (Malatest International, 2024. Promoting financial literacy and capability in Pacific communities.) Targeted funding such as Project Ikuna addresses systemic inequities that have persisted for decades.

3. It's culturally responsive learning at its best. The research indicates that:
-Financial wellbeing for Pacific peoples is shaped by values of collective wellbeing and giving.
-A generic financial literacy programme does not account for these realities — Money Confidence ensures culturally designed learning that aligns with Pasifika values and worldviews.

It’s not about exclusion — it’s about equity: providing Pasifika with the specific knowledge needed to achieve the same opportunities others already have. And finally, when we raise financial wellbeing for everyone, we lift up all of our economies and communities.

What do Amazon, Google and Spotify all have in common?
They're ahead of the game with built in focus on employee foundation skills- think collaboration, problem solving and mathematical thinking - when it comes to learning, working and even promotion criteria.
New research confirms these foundation skills are the future.
"In a world of constant disruption, organizations should pay even closer attention to their employees’ foundational skills—because those are what make long-term adaptability possible."

Soft Skills Matter Now More Than Ever, According to New Research An analysis of over 1,000 occupations and hundreds of skills—capturing 70 million job transitions—examined the importance of foundational skills (like reading comprehension, basic math, and the ability to work well in teams) to career progression. Those who had a broad base of foundational skill...