About us
The Shift Foundation is a youth-development organisation. Our mission is to improve the wellbeing of young women aged 12-25 years by supporting them to lead their best lives.
HOW WE CREATE CHANGE
We support young women to be more:
CONFIDENT
in their self identity, self-worth and holistic well-being.
CONNECTED
with strong, trusted relationships with peers, positive role models, and their wider communities.
EMPOWERED
in their lives, with opportunities to influence the issues that matter to them.
We also support people who influence young women's lives to be more:
INFORMED
about what works for young women.
CAPABLE
to meet young women's needs through their practice.
INCLUSIVE
of young women in their decision-making processes.
OUR APPROACH
Build whanaungatanga (strong relationships)
We build relationships and connections first to develop trust with those we work with.
Create inclusive, fun experiences
We create environments where young women feel a sense of belonging and can enjoy themselves.
Co-design and collaborate
We do ‘with young women’, (not ‘to’) and increase our impact by partnering with others.
See the whole-picture
We focus on all parts of young women’s wellbeing, and create change at both an individual and at a system-level.
Empower the next leaders
We share our knowledge and help others to lead the change we want to see.
Our strategic focus areas
To continue supporting young women into the next three years, we need to respond to the growing influences in their lives and empower them to become the next generation of leaders.
Following are our three strategic focus areas for 2022-2025.
1 / MENTAL WELLBEING
We will increase our focus on young women's mental wellbeing to enable them to respond to the opportunities and pressures in their lives.
Our aim: Increase the number of young women who understand how to build and maintain mental resilience and wellbeing.
2 / LEADERSHIP
We will create opportunities for young women to be heard and lead change on the issues that matter to them.
Our aim: More young women in leadership positions or leading change in their communities, school or work.
3 / BE GREAT ROLE MODELS
We will increase the diversity of our team, honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, contribute to climate action and be an industry leader as a good employer.
Our aim: ensure our organisation continues meeting the needs of young women and our team into the future, and being the best we can be.
