Go Well provided the Wise Group with support, resources and expertise to take the next big step in our sustainability journey. The Go Well team guided us through an effective, clear process of stakeholder engagement, pulling together the many sustainability threads from across the group. This work was further enhanced by their deep knowledge of frameworks and international trends. The open, curious approach of the Go Well team ensured the development of our sustainability strategy was tailored to our purpose and beliefs, incorporating both social and environmental impact with a central focus on improved outcomes for tāngata whai ora - the people we serve. The result is an evidence-based holistic strategy with a sharp focus on key impact areas where we can make the most difference, now and in the future. We are excited to put it into action – with the added benefit of being able to tap into the expertise of the Go Well team when needed.
– MAREE MCNULTY, INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS LEAD, WISE GROUP
The Wise Group is a national provider of mental health, addiction and wellbeing services in Aotearoa New Zealand. Made up of a whānau of charitable organisations operating across the country, the group employs over 1,500 people who share a passion and determination to improve lives every day, everywhere.
Working to create new opportunities for the wellbeing of people, vulnerable populations, organisations and communities, the work of the Wise Group entities (outlined below) spans mental health and addiction services, housing and homelessness services, violence prevention, employment support, education and training, workforce development, research, information services and software development, community wellbeing initiatives, specialist dementia care, and business support.
Wise Group reached out to us mid-2023 after we’d been recommended to their chief executive, Shelley Campbell, who wanted a bespoke and robust sustainability strategy for the organisation. Although sustainability has been part of Wise Group’s values and operations for many years, they wanted to bring it all together with a materiality assessment and set specific, measurable, and timely targets against their ESG impacts.
We were excited to work with an organisation that does so much important mahi in the community wellbeing space and one that has a history of incorporating sustainability principles into their operations, but realised that their organisation was a complex one, and took our time during the research phase to deeply understand their different entities and roles. It’s not every day you work with an organisation that binds together so many different entities nationwide!
We began Wise Group’s stakeholder engagement project in May. Given the size and spread of their organisation, it was decided that we would direct engagement internally, which we did through a number of focus groups, interviews, and surveys. We summarised our findings (including 235 survey responses!) into a report, which also identified the major areas we felt Wise Group should focus on (material impacts). We used these to develop the strategy, then worked extensively with their team to refine the impacts areas and targets to ensure they were relevant, values-aligned, and the right blend of ambitious and achievable for the group.
Key considerations for Wise Group were its unique size and the different needs of its entities; applying a te ao Māori lens across the strategy, led by Māori and Pacific leadership in the organisation; and the need to keep tāngata whai ora (the people the group serves) as the central focus for any sustainability mahi the organisation committed to.
The final strategy, Te Toitūtanga, is a fantastic acknowledgement of the ways sustainability and wellbeing interlink, and the role that the Wise Group can play in a sustainable future for everyone.
Following the finalisation of its strategy, which has a core focus on leveraging the group’s reach and relationships to enhance community knowledge, confidence, and capability towards living sustainably and regenerating local ecosystems, we developed a communications plan for the Wise Group to help engage staff and the wider community with Te Toitūtanga, using our communications framework. We are also continuing to work with the group through our PST services as they implement Te Toitūtanga, and helping them map their GHG emissions for the first time.
Supporting the Wise Group with developing its strategy was a fantastic experience for us, not only because we had the opportunity to work closely with the organisation’s teams and learn more about the inspiring work they do, but also for our own learning and development, expanding our own understanding of how organisations can ensure te ao Māori and the voice of Māori and Pacific leadership is a core part of their sustainability work.
We’re here to evolve business for the sustainable future.