Seasons’ greetings to our Fifeshire Foundation supporters
2021 has been challenging; for the country, for our community and for the Fifeshire Foundation. So I’m writing to share some good news.
One thing has become obvious to us in recent times: the need in our community for the Fifeshire Foundation’s support is growing, along with the desire to support that need through donations and sponsorship, making more work – and more complex work – for our manager and our small group of volunteer trustees. Change needed to happen, so throughout 2021 the Fifeshire Board has been working through a comprehensive strategic planning process, and we’re ready to announce the first step towards making our Foundation better fit to deliver its vision and goals.
I am delighted to introduce Shanine Hermsen to the Fifeshire Foundation as our first-ever Kaiwhakahaere/Executive Officer.
Shanine comes to us most recently from the Nelson Arts Festival where she was Community and Education Director. Community development and leadership are in her blood and she brings a wealth of experience from roles serving Whakatū Nelson to deliver community programmes, manage grant projects, and build events.
She has worked in various leadership roles at Nelson City Council, Sport Tasman, Bike New Zealand, and managed events overseas, with the highlight being her role as Ceremonies Coordinator and Team Leader for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Nelson is home for Shanine and her three-year old son. Her commitment to this place aligns with her strong values for community development, inclusion, and relationships.
As our Kaiwhakahaere, Shanine will be responsible for implementing our strategic plan. She will lead efforts to increase access to our service, improve our connection with donors and sponsors, and drive events and fundraising so we can better meet the need in our communities.
Shanine will become Fifeshire Foundation’s first-ever employee: up to now our managers have been contractors. The change is driven by best employment practice.
As a further step into the future, next year we will recruit a second employee, a Programme Coordinator, who will be in charge of the grant funding process, working day to day with social agencies and applicants to help them receive our funding. To best serve our grant applicants, we feel it is critical to have a dedicated staff member working in this area.
For now, our current manager, Leanne Churchill, will work alongside Shanine, supporting the transition and remaining in charge of grant applications and managing the important relationships with our funding agencies. We are grateful to Leanne for her continuing commitment to the Foundation and its work.
In the New Year we will share more of our strategic plan with you. Our commitment is to be in touch with you more than we have in the past. The Foundation could not operate without your support and we acknowledge we haven’t always done the best job expressing our gratitude. That’s going to change!
From all of us at the Fifeshire Foundation, I wish you a peaceful and trouble-free holiday season.
Peter Verstappen
Fifeshire Foundation Chair