Bishop's Action Foundation
The Foundation as a Catalyst
The Bishop's Action Foundation exists to contribute to the spiritual, social, cultural, economic, and environmental well-being of the Taranaki region and can best be described as a catalyst working for the common good bysupporting communities and organisations to develop projects and partnerships that address as yet unmet needs.
As a catalyst the Foundation can be defined by the metaphors of salt or yeast. As yeast becomes one with the dough that it permeates and makes a fundamental contribution to enhancing the bread that is created, so the Foundation seeks to respond within a community development model that enables communities and organisations to be empowered as active partners in identifying and responding to their needs. The metaphor of salt suggests another dimension. Salt is immediately detectable in whatever it is added to, although it cannot be seen. In a sense, it stands alongside, yet within, what it is added to. The Foundation therefore has the opportunity to offer informative critique of our society and its prevailing norms and through such dialogue to inform positive change.
To retain the capacity and flexibility required to continue to act as a catalyst the Foundation’s operating model has two further components, strategic creativity and sustainable innovation. Strategic creativity describes a belief that responses to needs should be based on relationships and partnerships so that they are sustainable within communities and do not depend entirely on the ongoing work of the Foundation. Sustainable innovation describes the intention to ensure that the Foundation retains sufficient capacity to be able to continue to build relationships and respond to unmet needs into the future. It also demonstrates that we seek to seed initiatives that will eventually sustain themselves. Through these strategies the Foundation can ensure that it remains a vibrant body that achieves significant and lasting contributions to the quality of life of Taranaki communities.
Web Address: http://www.bishopsactionfoundation.org.nz
Phone: 06 759 1178
Fax: 06 759 1180
Address: Bishop's Action Foundation
PO BOX 547
New Plymouth, 4340
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