Ember Innovations Pānui - March 2026

Poutūterangi shines brightly in the night sky this month, a tohu of harvest. At Ember Innovations, we are feeling the promise of the shift in season, as seeds we've tended begin to bear fruit. We are excited to share some of these developments with you.

In this pānui:

• Ember Innovations' website relaunch
• Knowledge Hub - Patte Randal
• Philanthropy New Zealand Conference highlights
• Youth Mental Health Summit
• Moemoeā Podcast
• Join us for a nature walk!

... And it is a beauty (if we do say so ourselves)

Crafted with the utmost love and care and with the help of some very clever friends (Anna Jackson, Kim Anderson and Rachel Lynch, we are looking at you), this new website aims to clearly articulate our mahi and continue to support and spark innovation in mental health in our beautiful Aotearoa.

Have a browse, send us feedback and watch this space as we develop it further in the months to come.

Our new website now includes a space where our community can explore the mātauranga generated through the research we’ve supported to date.

To launch this knowledge hub, we invite you to read about Dr Patte Randal's research, which was part of the inaugural Research Grants round in 2019.

Recently, the Ember Innovations team spent a couple of days at the Philanthropy New Zealand Conference, gathering with foundations, funders and impact investors from across Aotearoa. The big question in the room was simple but important for innovators: how do we fund real change? Encouragingly, many of the conversations reflected a growing interest in the kinds of work innovators are already doing — tackling root causes, redesigning systems, and imagining new ways of supporting wellbeing rather than just improving what already exists.

One of the clearest signals was that philanthropy is beginning to think more like innovators. Funders are increasingly interested in ideas that operate at the systems level, that are grounded in community, culture and lived experience, and that bring people together across sectors. Funding is only one tool. Many funders now see their role as also convening collaborators, advocating for new ideas, leveraging additional capital and backing experiments that show new ways forward. In other words, innovation is becoming central to how philanthropy thinks about change.

For us at Ember, the conference reinforced the role we play as a bridge between innovators and the funding world — connecting communities, researchers, funders and emerging ideas so that bold thinking has a pathway to grow. If there was one takeaway for innovators, it’s this: the philanthropic landscape is shifting. Funders are increasingly looking for ideas that are ambitious, collaborative and rooted in real communities. And that’s exactly the kind of innovation we love to support.

On 4 March, Ember Innovations joined leaders in youth mental health, including young people, researchers, academics, clinicians, service leaders, policy makers and politician at Parliament for the Youthline Youth Mental Health Summit. This event was the result of an ongoing collaboration between Youthline, Te Hiringa Mahara, Gen-Z Aotearoa, Mental Health Foundation, Voices of Hope, Te Rau Ora, Royal Australian and NZ College of Psychiatrists, Ember Innovations, University of Auckland, University of Otago and Victoria University, with a focus on four key themes:

• Youth led solutions
• Access to Mental Health Services
• Crisis Support and
• Mental Health in Education

Our role, alongside the wonderful Lola Fisher (co-founder of Gen-Z Aotearoa) and Bradley Mutch (founder of Mental Health Matters), was a simple but vital one: making sure every person in the room had the chance to contribute their own knowledge and expertise to shape a set of priority actions for the collaboration to take forward.

The kōrero was honest, challenging and hopeful in equal measure, with plenty of food for thought from international and home-grown keynote speakers (young and less young), and a strong bias towards action. A highlight for many was a sneak peak of the collaborative single, 'Stronger Together,' by Mental Health Matters (various Ōtautahi Artists), introduced by Producer Caleb McNicholl. The track is dedicated to anyone and everyone with an experience of mental health challenges, and is due to drop on 20 Match on Spotify, Apple Music and Youtube.

The thread running through everything was clear: rangatahi don't just need better systems designed for them, they need to be the ones designing them. Minister for Mental Health Hon. Matt Doocey closed the hui with a commitment to carry these priorities forward:  a signal that the conversation doesn't end here.

A Space for Connection, Creativity and Wellbeing

Over the past months, we have been quietly working on Moemoeā.  At its heart, Moemoeā nurtures connection and wellbeing. It allows honest conversations about wellbeing to unfold without judgement, while fostering belonging, creativity and collective care.

If you haven’t yet listened to the Moemoeā podcast, we warmly invite you to tune in. In this first series, we spoke with an incredible group of whānau who are leading and innovating across many spaces: creativity, leadership, AI, fashion and hinengaro innovation. Their whakaaro, experiences and journeys are inspiring, honest and deeply energising.

Moemoeā experiences are designed to nourish both the individual and the collective.

As we move forward, we are excited to be preparing a series of upcoming webinars, seasonal Kai Hākari gatherings, a second series of the podcast, and more opportunities to connect.

We would love for you to listen, participate and engage with Moemoeā as the kaupapa continues to grow.

Ngā mihi nui to the Ember Innovations team and Peti Deed for their aroha, tautoko, awhi and manaaki of Moemoeā.

Haere mai, join us in Moemoeā.

Join us at our March walk, which will take place on Friday, March 27th. We will meet at 7:45am for a 8am start at the Cornwall Park Cafe at Pohutakawa Drive and should arrive back at the cafe by 9am. We hope this is an opportunity to boost our collective wellbeing by creating connection and insight combined with gentle exercise. RSVP is essential, please email tatiana@emberinnovations.nz to let us know you will join us.