Our Values

Honouring the Legacy

• Len and Ada valued giving, promoting education and applying themselves to the task at hand.  They came from and lived in rural communities.  We honour their legacy by upholding those values, by having family members as part of our trust board, and ensuring some of our funding is directed toward those living in rural communities.   They had a vision that the Trust would continue for years to come. We pursue that vision by investing the trust fund wisely and managing the Trust so that it will be in a position to benefit today and into the future.

Valuing tikanga and manaakitanga

• We acknowledge and respect the unique place of Maori as tangata whenua of New Zealand/Aotearoa.  We encourage awareness, knowledge and understanding of the bi-cultural heritage of New Zealand and the partners of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.  We support Te Tiriti and the use of Te Reo Maori.
• Manaakitanga: we care about others, we uplift them, we support them, we make them feel at home and loved.

Levelling the playing field

• Inherent in our role as a philanthropic funder, there is a perceived power imbalance between us and the groups we fund or the groups seeking funding that we may not have relationships with.  As well as this, in our community, there are power imbalances.  There are particular groups in society who are disadvantaged because of these power imbalances.   We are aware of this imbalance.  We are also aware of and continually learn more about our own biases.  We must continue to be aware of the imbalances and the biases we have and do everything within our power to overcome these so as not to create further inequities.
• As a funder, we must help to figure out which communities are experiencing the most inequity, then target significant long-term funding specifically towards organisations that are visibly led by and serving those communities.

Drawn to make a difference

• Our team of people, both trustees and our staff, are motivated by making a real difference in our community.  Every contribution is valued and we share ideas with one another with respect.  It is important to us that all of our team members believe as a fundamental value in giving back to the community.  Outside of the work we do at the Len Reynolds Trust, all of our team members are involved in voluntary community groups that make a difference – this isn’t a requirement.  This is who we are.  Just as our founders did, the people involved with the Trust believe in the importance of leaving things better than they were before they came.
• We understand the power of relationships and connections, and through our work, we aim to make meaningful connections with the groups we fund and serve.  We are open to change and improving things to make life easier for the groups we fund, and ultimately for the community.
• We don’t believe in doing things the same way they have always been done just because that is the standard practice.  We believe that doing things the way things have always been done, doesn’t result in any great change.  We want to affect change because that will make the Waikato a better place.
• We are committed to continually bettering ourselves – through the development of our team, development of our trustees, and development of our granting practices.