New Pacific trust aims to challenge Western funding frameworks

The Chairperson of the new trust says big change is needed to move Pacific communities forward and ensure they are no longer invisible in the philanthropic sector.

Speaking with William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Hainoame Fulivai, the Chairperson of the Pasifka Funders’ Network (PFN), says although the group has attended the annual conference previously, members chose to host their own separate fono or event this year.

“When you go back to some of the stories that have been shared from the PFN over time, we seem to be hearing the same trends, same challenges,” Fulivai says

The PFN reached a major milestone earlier this week with the launch of its own trust on Tuesday at Office 101 in Penrose, a new space provided by Edric.

PFN aims to mobilise Pacific thinking and challenge traditional Western funding models.

PFN is a nationwide team of 40 Pacific professionals representing over 20 different philanthropy organisations.

Hainoame Fulivai. Photo/Facebook

The network is a collective who utilise indigenous systems and ancestral knowledge to empower one another while acting as a conduit between philanthropy and Pacific communities.

The launch of the new trust coincides with the Philanthropy NZ Conference 2026, an event being held at the New Zealand International Convention Centre in Auckland. .

Ms Fulivai says, “[That] Pasifika [are] not visible, we don't have data, we don't know how much exactly goes to our communities.

Watch Hainoame Fulivai’s full interview below.

“It's not necessarily that we are setting up our own sort of thing, but it is to say that we're here in the sector and big change is needed to move Pasifika, which contributes to the wider changes in Aotearoa.”

The trust launch opened with a pan-Pacific inclusive kava ceremony led by Langiouiha Isileli Latu.

JR McKenzie, MAS Foundation, Te Kāhui Pūmanawa, Harbour Sport, Foundation North, the Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP), Todd Foundation, and Auckland Council attended the launch.

Opening prayer. Photo/Supplied

The "head of the Vaka" was represented by Aiolupotea Lili Tuioti, the Director for the Peter McKenzie Project at JR McKenzie.

The network also acknowledged past leaders such as the late Pacific community leader and Green MP, Fa’anānā Efeso Collins.

According to the Tindall Foundation, approximately NZ$3.8 billion circulates within the philanthropy sector annually.

Despite this multi-billion dollar turnover, Fundsorter reports that Pacific communities are estimated to receive 2.3 per cent of that total funding.

Fulivai says the economic scale of the sector is even larger, especially when accounting for the $4b contributed annually through volunteer time alone.

Furthermore, financial projections indicate that a massive NZ$1.25 trillion in intergenerational wealth is expected to transfer between generations over the next 20 years.

Pacific communities are estimated to receive 2.3 per cent of that total funding. Photo/File

The PFN is specifically positioning its new trust to influence this NZ$1.25t transfer, advocating for a more equitable and culturally aligned distribution of future resources.

“So culturally aligned and relational vā [space] funding is where Aotearoa is heading from a lot of the work that we've seen, the shifts that are happening within Māori.

“We don't see as much of that traction and that collaborative movement collectively within Pasifika.”

The Pasifika Funders’ Network’s new trust’s goal is to influence the $1.25 trillion intergenerational wealth. Photo/File

Fulivai says Pacific communities are stronger when working together, and more effective in mobilising when standing together.

“And have a very collective voice to reflect what's happening in our community, not just in Aotearoa, but also globally. Also thinking about what's happening in the Pacific.

“We've been in this space now for a while and we've seen all sorts of different Pasifika voices. I've come to the point where it doesn't really matter how or what organisation we sit under

“It’s our values and who we are that connects us.”