Venture Philanthropy
Venture philanthropy has been one of Jenny’s passions for several years. As with seed investment this is project and founder driven, but the process is most often entirely philanthropic. Jenny is a supporter of the founder’s pledge approach, where appropriate.
Many of the ventures seeded and included in the seed investment portfolio have a strong public good and impact focus and this is carried through into the venture philanthropy work.
A few of the projects backed by way of venture philanthropy include:
impact awards
Foundation partner (the inaugral foundation partner for the initial three years through to March 2022)
An annual event – the Impact Awards started in 2019.
The Awards recognise and celebrate New Zealanders aged 16 to 30 who are making a difference in categories capturing: inclusion, enterprise, wellbeing, climate and global impact.
Policy
A public good venture.
The complete guide to the New Zealand election in 2020. A guide to all policies, all candidates and all parties.
POLICY LOCAL
Public good venture
Policy tool for the 2019 local elections with details on policies and candidates in all electorates in NZ.
MATCH te puna taurite
Supporting funder – seed donor
A new platform being developed by Philanthropy NZ to provide a more accessible, collaborative and equitable funding system in New Zealand. It aims to more effectively connect the demand for and supply of philanthropic funding. (Jenny has been a member of Philanthropy NZ for a number of years.)
spacebase
Patron (2019-2022)
Founded by Edmund Hillary Fellows Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom and Eric Dahlstrom.
Creating and catalysing a space ecosystem in New Zealand.
Jenny was Patron of SpacebaseNZ from 2019 to 2022.
AMBITION NZ
Founding principal sponsor – Public good venture
A social and economic study of ambition in New Zealand.
The book “Ambition – What New Zealanders think and why it matters” by economists Julie Fry and Hayden Glass was published in 2019.
SPACE FOR PLANET EARTH ChALLenge
Incubator
Sponsor
An incubator programme led by SpaceBase and Planet. The incubator attracts ventures and ideas seeking to leverage space technologies to address climate change. Categories include university/start-up level and high school level. The incubator was launched in Christchurch in August 2021, and was open to entries from NZ, Australia and the Pacific.