The Core Skills Toolkit is a collection of practical, easy-to-use resources and insights curated by the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) to help new and small community groups and not-for-profit organisations thrive.

This session with CSI associates Kathryn Nemec and Esther Whitehead will dive into the importance of strategic planning and aligning with your organisation's values and mission. We will be covering practical tips for setting long-term goals, deciding how you'll achieve your objectives, along with some examples of effective strategic planning. Don’t miss this opportunity to grow your skills, connect with others and strengthen your community group.

About the presenters:

Kathryn Nemec offers research, evaluation, and project management support to CSI and its clients, with a particular interest in participating grant making, capability development and the use of evaluation to improve organisations. As a community psychologist, she has extensive experience consulting for not-for-profit, local government, and philanthropic sectors. Kathryn brings a values-driven, collaborative approach to support organisations to demonstrate their impact.

Esther Whitehead brings extensive research and evaluation experience working in the not-for-profit, start-up sector and impact initiatives. A passionate advocate for the natural environment, Esther has a background in ecology; leaning on biomimicry tools to help resolve our greatest design challenges. She also spent over a decade working in the field of neurodiversity and equity in education and brings this insightful knowledge to the mahi. Esther has her own consultancy, Thrivemind supporting and coaching social impact strategies. She is the founder of Sustainable Queenstown Community Trust, Dishrupt(TM) and KiwiHarvest Queenstown. Esther has a breadth of governance experience as trustee/board member on a number of organisations and as a councillor at QLDC. Esther is a CSI associate and co-lead of Climate Action Aotearoa.