8 minute read
Heritage Foundation
HERIT AGE
Handing over the reins
At the end of 2018, Diocesan farewelled Board member and Chair of the Heritage Foundation Angela Anderson and welcomed David Gibson as her successor.
Angela Anderson
Angela joined the Board and became Chair of the Heritage Foundation in 2011. As an Old Girl, she saw the role as an opportunity to give back to the School and community from which she had gained so much.
Angela started at Diocesan in 1984, in what is today’s Year 7. Initially she found herself at the bottom of the bottom class (yes, classes were streamed back then). However, by the end of the year she was top of her class and by the time she reached Year 13, she was Head Prefect and a top student. She says Diocesan taught her how to work hard, apply herself and achieve her goals.
Angela went on to the University of Auckland, where she again graduated top in her year, completing a double degree in law and commerce. She says she never doubted it was achievable, an attitude and belief in her capability that her time at Diocesan had instilled in her. management business at the age of 29, managing investments for high wealth families and charitable trusts.
Angela says she never hesitated to accept the Diocesan Board position as she felt her expertise in governance and financial management brought another level of professionalism to the management of the Heritage Foundation.
None of this would have been possible without the support of Angela’s good friend Angela Coe, Diocesan’s Development Director, who returned to Diocesan to raise the money needed for the Arts Centre.
After eight years on the Board and Heritage Foundation, Angela has now stepped down and is focusing on being a parent to her Year 3 daughter, Charlotte, and her son Ben who is in Year 5 at King’s School. She says Diocesan has made great strides forward during her time on the Board and now is the right time for another parent to step up and add their own value to the mix. She knows the new Board member and Chair of the Heritage Foundation, David Gibson, well and knows he will do a great job.
“Diocesan is in great heart. It is an amazing school with incredible teachers and a very supportive community. Now is the right time to pass the reins to David who can bring a new approach to the role.”
The Diocesan School Board and community would like to acknowledge and thank Angela for her valuable contribution to the School and the time and energy she has committed over the past eight years. She has not gone far though, as she remains on the Investment Committee for the Heritage Foundation.
David Gibson
With two daughters at Diocesan, David sees his new role on the Board as a way for him to give back to the Diocesan community.
His background is mostly in corporate finance and he has over 20 years of investment banking experience, giving him the ideal skill set to take over the oversight and management of the Heritage Foundation. Since leaving banking, David now does a mix of corporate advisory, personal investing in growth companies and governance.
David’s governance experience includes a previous role on the Bayfield School Board and current directorships with NZX-listed NZME and Rangatira Limited, a private investment company.
He lives in Auckland with wife Pip Greenwood and his two daughters, Kate in Year 9 and Lucy in Year 6.
David agrees with Angela, saying that Diocesan is in great heart at the moment. “I love the School and what it offers our girls, and I feel a great sense of support within our community. As a Board member and Chair of the Heritage Foundation, I feel a keen sense of obligation to build on what has been achieved in recent years to make Dio the very best place we can going forward.”
FAQThe Heritage Foundation
What is the purpose of the Heritage Foundation?
The Heritage Foundation was established in 2001 as a charitable trust to support Diocesan School for Girls by attracting, administering and coordinating donations, endowments and bequests to the School and growing a culture of philanthropy across the community.
What are the funds of the Heritage Foundation?
The Foundation enables the School to invest in scholarships, bursaries, prizes and grants for students and staff through donations to the individual funds illustrated below. How does the Arts Centre fit in?
The Arts Centre Grand Circle Campaign sits within a building fund of the Heritage Foundation. Donations are received by the Foundation, held and invested, until passed to the School to support the funding of the Arts Centre. To date $4.5 million has been transferred to the School with a further $3.5 million pledged.
Where is the money invested and how is it managed?
The money is invested in a mix of fixed interest and growth assets by a professional investment fund manager based in Auckland. Our investments are
monitored by an investment committee appointed by the Heritage Foundation.
The financial objective of the Heritage Foundation is to protect the capital of each fund while producing income to pay for grants and scholarships. The ability to pay grants and scholarships each year will depend on the investment performance of the funds invested as well as new donations received.
How is the Heritage Foundation governed and managed?
The Heritage Foundation is governed by the trustees and the day-today operation is managed by the Development Office.
How much is in each fund?
Heritage Foundation Funds Summary as at Year End 2018:
Who benefits through the Heritage Foundation?
Every year grants are awarded to students and staff to attend national and international opportunities that might otherwise not have been possible without the Foundation’s support, for example:
Staff Scholarship Mehernaz Pardiwalla, the leader of the Junior School Performing Arts programme, attended the prestigious Cuskelly College of Music Summer School programme.
“Completing the Kodály Level 2 Primary Education course has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life,” she says. “There were about 200 adults on the primary and secondary education courses, mostly from all around Australia but a handful also from Asia and Europe. I was totally inspired by everything that I was taught and am very excited now about putting all my new knowledge into my teaching practice this year at Diocesan.”
Sport Four Diocesan students were selected to attend the Water Polo Junior World Championships in Serbia last year supported by Dio Sport.
Mehernaz Pardiwalla
Angie Winstanley-Smith (coach), Shinae Carrington, Morgan McDowall, Charlie Hooke, Claudia Morgan Shakespeare drama students
Arts Twenty-nine Diocesan students were supported by Dio Arts to attend the Shakespeare Globe National Festival
Student Scholarship The Diocesan Future Problem Solving team are to attend the International Championships in the USA in July 2019.
Centennial/Endowment funds The Honor Jensen Memorial Award is an endowment fund available to Old Girls, staff and students to further their interest in history and the classics. Amongst the past awardees have been former Dio drama teacher Bess Reynolds and Old Girl Talia Pua.
Prizes such as the CJ Tunks Award and the Ethel Stanford Bursary are endowments presented at Prize Giving annually.
How do I apply for a grant or scholarship?
The application form is on Dioconnect/ Community/Heritage Foundation. Applications are to be submitted with all accompanying information and approved by the Principal before delivering to the Development Office for consideration by the Heritage Foundation trustees. Questions can be sent to Angela Coe acoe@diocesan.school.nz How do I make a donation to the Heritage Foundation or one of its funds?
DONATIONS CAN BE MADE
Online via the School website (internet banking/credit card) or by cheque to the Heritage Foundation Private Bag 99939 Newmarket 1149 Email or call Angela Coe acoe@diocesan.school.nz P (09) 520 9378 All donations to the Heritage Foundation attract a 33% tax credit.
Our girls today enjoy the huge benefit of donations from our previous families and this culture of giving forward helps us to maintain and provide the very best education for our young women.
Diocesan’s Performing Arts Centre
The Arts Centre has been a dream since 1995. Together we are making it a reality. The theatre will be a venue the Diocesan and wider Auckland community will enjoy for the next 100 years, showcasing the many genres of the performing arts.
It is exciting to see the progress of the auditorium; the façade gives us a real sense of the scale and proportions of the building, outlining the theatre foyer and the internal drum, which houses the backstage spaces and stage.
NOW IS THE TIME TO PLAY YOUR PART
Your donation will help us reach the $9 million target for the Grand Circle campaign.
You are invited to play your part; each donation of $1000 will be acknowledged with a plaque on a theatre seat bearing a message of your choice. You may wish to honour someone special, leave your mark as an Old Girl, recognise a special event or simply have your own name or family name.
All seat donors will be invited to an opening event especially to ‘find your seat’.
TO MAKE YOUR DONATION
go to www.takeyourseat.co.nz
or complete the enclosed flyer and return to: Development Office, Private Bag 99939, Newmarket 1149
or email acoe@diocesan.school.nz
Remember, all gifts are eligible for a 33% tax credit
Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seat.
The Diocesan Arts Centre has been a dream of the School community since 1995. Together we are making it a reality. Your donation of $1000 will be acknowledged with a plaque on a theatre seat bearing a message of your choice.
