Fresh Perspectives and Renewed Purpose
Kia Kotahi Ako CEO, Sarah Grant, recently welcomed her first pēpi. As she returns after three months away on maternity leave, she shares her thoughts on motherhood, balancing the needs of Kia Kotahi Ako with her new and most important client, Josie, and how the experience is shaping her vision for the road ahead.
“After working with so many children over the years, I wasn’t sure how being with my own child all day would compare to teaching,” Sarah says. “But the highs of motherhood are so much higher than I ever expected, which has been a wonderful surprise. I remember my mum always used to tell me that it’s different when it’s your own; now I believe her.”
Sarah and her husband, Danny, have been relishing all the tiny moments, like when Josie learned to roll from her front to her back last week, while also weathering the challenges of being new parents. “I’m so fortunate to be able to breastfeed, but I definitely underestimated how much of a full-time job it is. It really is like a whole working day – 8 hours of sitting on the sofa feeding. As someone who likes to move around and be adventurous, that’s been a big change for me. In the first month, getting out to do even one thing each day was a success. It’s getting easier already, but I’ve had to adjust to not knowing whether we’ll be able to go out and meet people and do things, or if we’ll make it just two minutes down the road and feel totally exhausted.”
One of the biggest shifts, she says, has been learning how to ask for and accept help, a lesson which she has brought back to her work at Kia Kotahi Ako. “We have been lucky to have family and great friends around who have offered us support like food. I quickly learned that if I said yes to those offers, then Danny wouldn’t have to cook and wash nappies when he got back from work, and that meant we both would get more time to spend with Josie. Our communication has also become so much clearer, and there’s been a change in thinking to be more collective – our sleep score is calculated for the whole team! I’m learning to acknowledge when it’s better for everyone if I accept help or ask others to do things. This mindset has been really useful as I transition back into work. I’m also mindful of this new time limitation that I haven’t had before, and how I can use that as a motivator for us to use everyone’s skills in the best way.”
After a few months of quiet focus on whānau, Sarah says she’s feeling energised by her return to Kia Kotahi Ako and the opportunity to re-engage the part of her brain that works on solving systems-level problems. “It’s been amazing to come back and see that the things I set up before I went ended up flying while I was away. There have been some big wins in my absence, and while not everything got done the way I would’ve done it, it all still worked. Coming back has felt like a welcome energy switch – finishing three months of the most self-focused time in our little bubble, and then returning to thinking about our mahi across the country and our wider purpose.”
Becoming a mum has given Sarah pause to reflect on privilege and further highlighted the imperative for organisations like Kia Kotahi Ako to continue in the fight for equity across Aotearoa New Zealand. “I’m so conscious of the lucky position that we’re in and the head start that Josie has been given. Things like a great support system and access to midwife care immediately start shaping the future you will have. Without Kia Kotahi Ako and Danny’s employer supporting both of us with parental leave, we wouldn’t be able to do this.”
Sarah expects her working patterns to remain fairly light-touch for the next few months, but she’s quickly finding a new rhythm and new ways to work with the tīma. “Jojo [McEachen, Board Chair] embodies a leadership style where what’s best for the person is best for the organisation, and that has helped to create a hugely supportive culture. I can be flexible with the team without the need to be tied to specific hours or deadlines because I know they won’t let anything fall through the cracks. I can breastfeed on calls if I need to. I can take a phased approach to my return that works for my whānau and for Kia Kotahi Ako.”
Part of her return to work includes asking existential questions about both the organisation and her ongoing role in it, Sarah says. “I have always seen my place as being a kaitiaki and a facilitator behind the scenes. The strategic direction is set by the Board and where they want to take the kaupapa, and my role is to help guide us to that next stage. One of my big reflections coming back was that I want to find the right ways of supporting Kia Kotahi Ako in the long term. We have always aspired to be a dynamic organisation, agile enough to meet the needs of the kaupapa. I feel privileged that the team trusts me to hold the vision while also acknowledging that we must never be complacent and should always be thinking about the next best step. In these early days back, my focus is on what our options are and being more proactive about what the next steps will be for us as an organisation. I want us to keep asking the challenging questions: what is our role, methodology and purpose; who should lead us into our next chapter; what sets us apart; and where and how can we add the most value for the communities we serve?”
KKA Team and EHF Fellows from left to right: Andrew Boyd, Joanne McEachen, Huia Lambie, Sarah Grant, Nikora Ngaropo.
As an Edmund Hillary Fellowship-fuelled organisation, Kia Kotahi Ako’s period of transition mirrors the Fellowship’s own this year, Sarah reflects. “We are a Fellow-run and majority-funded organisation, and I think we are an excellent example of Fellows collaborating to provide resources and expertise to support Māori communities. With EHF experiencing its own evolution in leadership this year, we’re looking forward to seeing what comes next and how we can continue to mobilise that network while also considering what those changes might mean for the way we work.”
Looking ahead to the rest of this year and beyond, Sarah is excited to see some hard work coming to fruition, including the recent announcement of a funding partnership with the US-based Honnold Foundation. Their US$150k investment will go towards a solar installation at partner kura Te Pi’ipi’inga Kākano Mai i Rāngiatea in Taranaki, alongside the existing Solar Suitcase programme, an expanded programme of community energy literacy workshops, and the development of renewable energy career pathways. “We’re committed to scaling deeply with communities and supporting their vision meaningfully, rather than at a surface level. This mahi allows us to do that in Taranaki by exploring workforce development opportunities that support our wider systems-change aspirations.
Tauira from Te Pi’ipi’inga Kakano Mai i Rāngiatea participating in our research focus groups on how to best engage rangatahi Māori in the alternative energy sector.
“As we continue to examine our own role and how our leadership structure might evolve to best meet the needs of the communities we serve, we are also looking at ways to support and develop future Māori leaders. In particular, we’re currently finalising the details for a new personal branding and self-leadership journey for rangatahi Māori, He Māramatanga Tōku Ao (Illuminating My World), led by Board members Joanne McEachen and Nikora Ngaropo. We are also continuing to support our partners at Te Pā Wānanga 21st-century Māori learning village in Ōtautahi Christchurch. And in the background, for me, there is always more work to do on developing a sustainable business model – finding ways that we can leverage partnerships or new ventures that help support our ongoing work with kura and communities.”
For now, Sarah is doing her best to balance her leadership priorities with the new needs and perspectives provided by motherhood. “I definitely understand better now how not to worry about the small stuff, and I’m learning to compartmentalise more, which I think are really healthy skills to develop. Josie is my most important project – the person who gets the priority attention and whom I drop everything for. We’re trying to take her on as many adventures and give her as many experiences as possible, while also adjusting to the realities of parenthood. We’re currently travelling around Aotearoa in our campervan, which we packed full of fun outdoor adventure toys, but perhaps not what we realistically needed for a day of feeding and working. I’m still learning how to reset when I think I have something planned and then I have to drop it all because everything changes. There’s definitely a big, ongoing lesson around plans and the expectations I set for myself and others. And just a huge amount of gratitude for the support from Danny, my friends, my whānau, and my colleagues.”