2. 01 SUMMARY
Up-and-coming civic entrepreneur acting on an emerging and optimistic vision of how local
communities can be places for 21st Century prosperity and resilience - acting as a powerful
social change frontier for global issues. Experience in design disciplines including branding, urban
design and place-making have inspired an agenda for creative and cultural engagement in urban
renewal projects - creating entry points for mainstream community participation in proven social
innovations that are driving transformation such as community agriculture, stream restoration
and urban vegetation.
Experience across public, private and non-profit sectors gives understanding of how to work in
the space between – finding better ways to work together and achieve common good. Strong
advocate for the role of corporates and brands playing a meaningful role in social good missions,
bringing resource and creative strategies to reach larger audiences.
Key area of focus and expertise is in designing experiences that both spark public participation
and effectively break down cultural barriers to civic engagement, environmental stewardship
and community agency. The objective of this participation is not only about involving community
in solving the problems of our time (such as accessibility of fresh air, water, food) but in doing
so fulfilling unmet community needs and from this entry point shifts helping to inspire in our
expectations, choices and behaviours - relocating our dreams from consumers to citizens again.
02 EXPERTISE
2.1 STRATEGY FOR SOCIAL IMPACT PROJECTS
• Using deep understanding of social and community sectors to think critically and creatively
about how social change ideas and innovations can be enacted in the real world
• Creating sophisticated approaches for how social change can be achieved on the ground
through engagement and civic participation
• Designing projects and events that are relevant, inspiring and involving for all stakeholders
and audiences, and importantly deliver to the bigger movement
• Thoughtful about processes for community-led action that are empowering, capacity and
confidence building, and make it easy for collaborators to self-organise and self-sustain.
2.2 ACTIVATION FOR COLLABORATIVE ENDEAVOUR
• Bringing the big picture vision to life for collaborators with ideas that energise through
tactical creativity and flair
• Tapping into real world community networks and activating existing social capital;
understanding what different collaborator’s interests and motivations are that the project
can deliver to and designing tailored approaches that unlock the value in each partner
• Managing relationships to keep people engaged, inspired and feeling supported
• Community organising and negotiating complexity of collaborative grass-roots projects that
catalyse bottom-up movements
2.3 CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT FOR BEHAVIOUR-CHANGE
• Tapping into local identity and pride in place as a cultural impetus to spark an appetite for
participation
• Designing genuinely engaging, meaningful and participatory experiences for deep
engagement between organisations/brands/missions and their target audiences and
stakeholders
• Thoughtful about the role of events as entry points for new attitudes and behaviours -
cultural interventions that act as the landmark moments of change that combine a tangible
sense of accomplishment with fun
• Designing events that tangibly link popular culture (e.g. music) with social innovations; to
capture people’s hearts and minds and move civic-mindede behaviours from the fringe to the
mainstream
3. 03 SKILLS
• Graphic design and visual identity [brand creative and management, promotional materials]
• Social media and web-management [using digital platforms for real-world action]
• Communication [writing, presenting, listening]
• Research [policy, new models, theories and ideas]
• Project and event management [budget, leadership and facilitation, evaluation]
• Bicultural understanding [maori language and tikanga]
04 PROJECTS & EXPERIENCE
4.1 DESIGN LEAD THE PROJECTS|AUCKLAND [SEPTEMBER 2010-PRESENT]
The Projects | Auckland is a start-up communications agency that seeks to achieve
‘communication through action’ - creating and executing real-world participatory projects
to catalyse behaviour-change and foster cross-sector collaboration. I collaborated with the
Strategic Lead on:
• Concepting, branding and executing the Viva Waitakere Festival in 2010 and 2011; a
grassroots festival created to perpetuate the identity and values of Waitakere through a
combination of Music + Action. My role included:
• taking the lead on doing - bringing the vision to life on the ground by designing
the experience for festival-goers and the approach for creating participation and
engagement, leading up to and on the day of the festival
• achieving cross-sector collaboration through tapping into real world community
networks and activating existing social capital
• pitching to multiple parties for investment and involvement in the festival
• working with community organisations to design engagement into their presence at
the festival
• managing relationships to keep collaborators inspired, feeling supported and ensuring
value for money
• creating the visual identity and marketing collateral, social media and storytelling
• project management including coordination, contracts, budget, compliance,
facilitation and evaluation
• Concepting project ‘Room to Grow’ - a behaviour- change action to mainstream the local
food movement in Auckland; launching the Mayor’s Auckland Eco City vision. This project
was pitched to the Auckland Mayor, Deputy Mayor and their officials and led to The Projects
| Auckland taking a lead role in the Auckland Food Alliance.
• Consulting to Colenso BBDO to inform their pitch for the Auckland Council including writing
and delivering a presentation that covered an introduction to the machine that is the
Auckland Council, insight into the changing role of local government, what the Big Society
initiative in the UK could mean for Auckland and the role of digital democracy in citizen
renaissance.
• Spearheading the Auckland Food Alliance’s campaign to engage key stakeholders across
business, council and community in finding a common agenda towards a new paradigm for
Auckland’s food system. This included:
• in-depth research into global happenings in food system innovation and the local food
movement
• devising a Shared Value strategy for renewing Auckland’s food system. This strategy
was presented to Chief Planning Officer Dr Roger Blakely and his team developing the
30-year Auckland Spatial Plan, arguing for it to be prioritized in long-term planning as
an integral part of realising Auckland’s economic, social, cultural and environmental
future.
4. 04 PROJECTS & EXPERIENCE
VIVA WAITAKERE FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTED
[civic participation, identity-building, cross-sector collaboration, cultural innovation]
ISSUE
In 2010, with Auckland’s governance being amalgamated into one Council, people in the West
were worried that the unique identity and ‘Waitakere Way’ of working would be lost. Within this
unique identity was the idea of being an Eco City. Transformational initiatives such as Project
Twin Streams were born out of it, and now their future success was threatened without a
dedicated local Council who understood their worth. That projects like this were not just about
conservation, they tapped into the power of place and built healthy, sustainable and resilient
communities around them through a unique community development and creative engagement
approach. And in fact, were proven solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our time.
ACTION
The Viva Waitakere Festival was first held in 2010 on the last day of Waitakere City. It was
conceived as an opportunity to participate in the legacy of the City, but became something
much bigger as it sparked an appetite for broad civic participation and cross-sector
collaboration inspired by people’s love for the West. The initial call to action resulted in the
involvement of 16 community organisations, 18 businesses, 10 amazing music acts. In 2011
there was a call from the community for it to become an annual event, and supported by
the West Local Boards, the 2011 event cemented its place as THE festival for the West. As
Waitakere was unique, the festival is too. The 2011 event effectively combined top quality
music with Eco City action – engaging festival-goers in planting 1000 trees in the park and
repotting 500 seedlings to kickstart a native nursery at a local school. This approach took the
‘Waitakere Way’ of doing things to a new level and invited the rest of Auckland to share in it.
IMPACT
The Viva Waitakere Festival exists not just to perpetuate the values and identity the West takes
pride in, but to act as a vehicle to mainstream participation in urban renewal projects such as
stream restoration, community agriculture and urban forests. It aims to do this by using popular
culture such as music to engage a new breed of pioneers in Eco City action with fresh talent to
bring the energy and young/progressive urbanity the Eco City has to be about going into the
future. As well as executing a significant participatory project on the day, in 2012 the festival
also intends to bring together the network of Eco City activity that happens over the year
into one place to both celebrate and strengthen it through bringing more volunteers to these
transformational initiatives. The mission is to increase civic participation in Eco City action
in Waitakere to build the social capital necessary for these local solutions to be successfully
implemented. The macro outcome we are looking to achieve is a civic-minded community that
is bonded by the actions it takes to look after it local environment and each other.
VIVA WAITAKERE IN THE NEWS 2010 & 2011
“I started putting the message out
there that we were going to do it, and
it turned into something much bigger “Viva Waitakere is set to pioneer
because there was so much passion a new kind of festival - one that
about the West” combines music and action”
http://goo.gl/R4Mpz http://goo.gl/dJmqE
5. 04 PROJECTS & EXPERIENCE
4.2 DIRECTOR TAIA DESIGN [NOVEMBER 2005-PRESENT]
Clients: NZ Historic Places Trust, The U.S. Embassy of Wellington, Inspiring Communities,
LIFEWISE, The Auckland Community Development Alliance, Community Waitakere, WAVES
Trust, NZ Community Economic Development Network, NZ Federation of Voluntary Welfare
Organisations, The Auckland Communities Foundation, MPHS Community Initiative.
Taia Design specialises in the creation of design and communications materials for community
and public organisations. Experience working with these organisations in developing visual
identities and communications materials I have developed an in-depth understanding of the
environment they work in and their communications challenges and priorities. Most recently I
have:
• Worked with MPHS Community Initiative to create People Pride Place Community News - a
print and online bi-monthly publication to communicate their projects, events and grow
connection within their community.
• Worked with the Community Economic Development Network to manage their website and
create a visual identity and promotional materials for their 2011 Conference, including the
Social Enterprise Dragon’s Den. I worked closely with the Convenor and other stakeholders
to deliver a brand that was fresh, colourful and hit just the right note for their function and
positioning as an innovative network at the helm of the social enterprise sector in New
Zealand.
• Created the visual identity and marketing collateral for the inaugural Neighbours Day
Aotearoa campaign, working closely with the marketing and media team to produce a brand
that was vibrant, inclusive, engaging and fun. A brand that was clean and modern to attract
corporate sponsorship but still retained a grass-roots feel.
• Lead the creative for the Elect Penny Hulse Campaign, creating both an official public-facing
brand and an internal collaborators brand. Penny represents a new type of politics, not
about left or right, but working collectively to find common agendas and projects we can all
agree on. The core components of her visual identity - paua and weaving reflected this and
emphasised her individuality as an independent candidate.
NEIGHBOURS DAY AOTEAROA HIGHLIGHTED
[brand and visual identity, civic participation, cause/movement]
ISSUE
In recent years there has been a dramatic loss of local ‘can-do’ support networks at a
neighbourhood level, leaving people such as families with young kids, older folk and new
migrants isolated. Neighbours Day is designed as an antidote to this - turning streets into
neighbourhoods once again.
ACTION
Inspired by similar initiatives overseas, Neighbours Day Aotearoa is a campaign of events
encouraging people to connect at a street level. In 2011 214 neighbourhoods across NZ
officially ‘signed up’ to get involved and over the weekend countless street parties were held,
cups of tea shared and over-the-fence relationships developed.
IMPACT
Neighbours Day Aotearoa is an event that has turned into a movement - working towards
building a national culture of neighbourliness. The message was right for the times and taken
up by significant corporate sponsors such as Westpac and Burger Wisconsin. It received media
coverage from over 40 channels including a slot on TVNZ Breakfast. It is estimated that the
message reached over 1 million New Zealanders.
6. 04 PROJECTS & EXPERIENCE
4.3 COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT ATLAS COMMUNICATIONS [MAY-SEPTEMBER
2010]
Atlas Communications is a leading creative communications agency specialising in behaviour-
change interventions. Major client is Project Twin Streams, an award-winning stream
restoration and community development project in Waitakere City. My work included:
• Streambanks and Beyond: The Project Twin Streams Seminar - Programme design and
implementation, promotion and marketing collateral, event management, facilitation of
presentation creation and delivery
• Project Twin Streams Website - Creation of brief for web designer and supervision of
design process, content creation including copy-writing and image selection, sitemap
and functionality design and project supervision. Design and delivery of social media
outputs including Facebook, Twitter, blog, Flickr and Google Maps.
• Project Twin Streams Value Case - Supervision of design process and execution for
animations by subcontractor, design of Powerpoint presentation, diagrams and
illustrations.
• Redesign of Atlas Communications website including look/feel, image selection, copy-
writing, and functionality.
PROJECT TWIN STREAMS HIGHLIGHTED
[civic participation, environmental restoration + sustainability, behaviour-change]
ISSUE
Henderson Creek and its tributaries were identified as presenting hazards to Waitakere
resdidents through flooding and contamination. Waitakere City Council was changed with
mitigating the flood hazards and restoring the natural waterways running through urban and
suburban areas. However they realised that this was not just a infrastructure challenge, but
a behaviour-change one and that the objectives of the project could not be achieved without
working with the people and communities that reside in the catchments.
ACTION
Project Twin Streams engaged grassroots community organisations to deliver the stream
restoration programme on the ground; brokering participation in the project through working
with schools, businesses and community groups to build awareness and importantly ownership
of the project’s goals. Through this engagement, and listening to the community, the scope of
the project grew to helping households to have a positive effect on the natural environment -
leading to initiatives such as building a network of walk/cycleways, installing rainwater tanks
in homes and establishing community gardens. An essential tool for the project has been using
creative methods to engage people’s hearts and minds in reconnecting with their natural
environment. This works not only by by raising awareness of environmental issues, but also
engendering a sense of community, belonging and pride in place.
IMPACT
Over 9 years Project Twin Streams has resulted in more than 40 000 volunteer attendances,
engaged over 150 groups and planted close to a million native trees and shrubs - 60% by
volunteers. It is anticipated that the community engagement approach will result in a much
deeper understanding understanding of the impact of human behaviour on the catchment and
accordingly people are much more likely to have a lighter footprint. A key strategy has been to
engage through action rather than information. This follows the latest theory on behavioural
economics; that people’s behaviour changes through ‘doing’ rather than greater awareness.
7. 04 PROJECTS & EXPERIENCE
4.4 INTERN MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT [NOVEMBER 2008-MARCH 2009]
Stakeholder awareness and understanding of the Public Transport Management Act, policy
recommendations for enhancing the accessibility of public transport, ministerial briefings on
economic value of public transport and walking and cycling infrastructure investment.
4.5 NZ HISTORIC PLACES TRUST (NZHPT) [NOVEMBER 2006-APRIL 2010]
PART-TIME VISITOR HOST OLD ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL [NOVEMBER 2008-APRIL 2010]
Events coordination and liaison, managing merchandising activities, creating marketing and
promotion collateral, volunteer management and training.
URBAN DESIGN RESEARCH PROJECT LEAD CENTRAL REGION OFFICE [JUNE-AUGUST 2009]
Lead project to determine potential effects on historic heritage in Wellington by the
proposed Ngauranga to Airport Transport Strategy; mapping the historic heritage along the
transport corridor to assist planners in preparing for these developments and identifying
areas of risk.
PART-TIME RESEARCH ASSISTANT CENTRAL REGION OFFICE [MARCH-NOVEMBER 2009]
Assisted lead researcher on proposals and reports; auditing current database information
and verifying and updating technical aspects of the Register of Historic Places using archival
records, site visits and software such as Quickmap and Google Earth and Google Streetview.
ADMINISTRATION ASSISTANT CENTRAL REGION OFFICE [NOVEMBER 2006-MARCH 2008]
Day-to-day stakeholder relations, creation of marketing and promotions collateral, event
coordination, paper and digital information management, assisting with preparation of
evidence for Council and Environment Court hearings, assisting heritage planner on designing
and illustrating urban design solutions for development proposals.
A FRIEND IN NEED HIGHLIGHTED
[identity-building, interactive experience design, storytelling]
ISSUE
The NZHPT is New Zealand’s foremost heritage protection agency. One of its functions is in
heritage tourism for the historic properties it manages. Increasing visitor attendances and
income from donations and merchandising is a constant struggle. Old St Paul’s Cathedral has
a strong connection with the US Marines who worshipped there during their residence in NZ
through the war in the Pacific (1942-44). The NZHPT wanted to tell this story in an engaging
way that was relevant to both New Zealand and international audiences.
ACTION
Developed in partnership with the US Embassy in Wellington and world-renowned exhibition
designers Story! Inc, ‘A Friend in Need’ was a ground-breaking move for the NZHPT in terms
of experience design. Previously, storytelling was limited to static displays in glass-fronted
cabinets, so having an interactive exhibition in the cathedral set a new precedent. To maximise
the impact of the exhibition, I was contracted by Old St Paul’s and the US Embassy to design a
series of products to complement the exhibition including signage and promotional materials,
an education resource for schools, DVD and impact evaluation.
IMPACT
A Friend in Need and its collateral has become a significant asset to Old St Paul’s. During the
year it was on display in the cathedral school visits trippled and revenue from visitors grew
significantly. The exhibition has gone on to tour various museums around New Zealand and
has revolutionised the approach taken to interpretation and storytelling by the NZHPT. I was
awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the US Ambassador for my role in this project.
8. 04 PROJECTS & EXPERIENCE
YOUTH VOICE AT DIGITAL EARTH HIGHLIGHTED
[cause/movement, leadership]
ISSUE
The International Digital Earth Conference was coming to Auckland, but had no allocation for
a youth delegation. Since sustainability is a conversation that is future-focussed, we thought
it was imperative to enable young New Zealanders to be involved and have a voice at the
conference.
ACTION
As part of my Future Leaders course programme, I was part of a team of five who set out
to infiltrate Digital Earth with a youth presence. We ran a selection process which involved
delegates submitting their vision for NZ in 2050 and from that brought together 100 young
people to attend a 2-day bootcamp prior to the conference to design what they wanted their
impact on the conference to be. This lead to a number of actions being executed over the
3-day conference including engaging the media, the production of a short documentary, the
creation of a networking website and many more. In recognition of the impact youth had on
the conference, we were invited to deliver the closing presentation – asking the final question
‘What are you committed to?’
IMPACT
As a result of the Youth Voice project, all Digital Earth conferences now have a subsidised youth
delegation. The online LongSong network that was created at the conference later evolved into
the Intersect network – NZ’s foremost for young professionals concerned with sustainability.
05 EDUCATION
5.1 BACHELOR OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE VICTORIA UNIVERSITY [2008-9]
Areas of focus: Urban design, civic participation, regenerative urban environmenrts, identity-
building and governance, community food production and security
5.2 URBAN DESIGN FOUNDATION COURSE NZ PLANNING INSTITUTE [2007]
5.3 L3 CERTIFICATE IN TE REO MAORI WAIARIKI POLYTECHNIC [2007]
5.4 FUTURE LEADERS NZ SCHOLARSHIP AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY [2005-6]
Areas of focus: Collaborative and servant leadership, catalysing sustainability movement for
NZ youth
5.5 BACHELOR OF DESIGN MASSEY UNIVERSITY [2005-6]
Areas of focus: History of design and architecture, role of historic heritage (particularly
indigenous) in NZ identity
9. 06 RECOMENDATIONS
“Having collaborated with Chloe on everything from founding and building from the
grassroots up the Viva Waitakere Festival, to strategising with her to reinvent the Auckland
Food System, to successfully pitching social change projects to major corporates, I can
say she is an incredibly smart, ambitions, passionate and multi-talented woman with the
potential to achieve a lot of good for society.
To anyone in business, government or community who is pushing the agenda forward
with socially progressive projects or initiatives Chloe needs to be on your team or, if that
is not possible, somehow you should find a way to collaborate with her. With her depth
of knowledge in the social change space and in particular of cutting edge models been
employed on the ground in NZ and overseas, it is essential she is at the table in any phase
of strategic development. While her expertise on the creative side, critically needed for
capturing the imagination of the masses and the success of any culture and / or behaviour
change initiative, is where Chloe really comes into her own. Bringing together a unique
combo of the finer skills of design and branding with the hands on passion for activation of
events / projects / initiatives to be truly participatory and community owned, in this space I
don’t know anyone so skilled at tapping into real world community networks and then using
the inherent social capital that resides there in order seed ideas and catalyse bottom up
movements.
I look forward to seeing where these skills are put to task next. Chloe is a true talent with
a skill set for the times, but don’t just take my word for it - look at what she has already
managed to achieve as a leader and entrepreneur.”
Tim Gregory
Founder - The Projects | Auckland
“I have been highly impressed with Chloe’s ability to make stuff happen. She has a terrific
intrinsic motivation and a big hearted commitment to community. Add to that exceptional
design and organisational skills and you have someone very special. A good example of this
was the selfless and creative way she pulled together Viva Waitakere with Tim Gregory as the
sun went down on Waitakere City Council. It was a great event pulled togetehr in the tightest
of tight timeframes. Truly inspiring!”
Mark Bentley
Chief Executive - Auckland Communities Foundation
07 REFEREES
Penny Hulse
Deputy Mayor | Auckland Council
P +64 21 273 4663
E penny.hulse@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
Mark Allen
Senior Advisor Local Boards West | Auckland Council
P +64 21 378 791
E mark.allen@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
