Auckland Council’s delivery of Project Ikuna, a successful professional development programme for Pacific peoples, has won the Supreme Award at the Economic Development New Zealand Excellence Awards.
Project Ikuna was announced overall winner at the Economic Development New Zealand (EDNZ) annual conference gala dinner, held at Pipiri Lane in Wynyard Quarter on 12 November.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has funded the programme, run by Auckland Council.
Auckland Council has worked directly with Tāmaki Makaurau education providers and in liaison with businesses to deliver 12 ‘Future Ready’ short courses. Pacific employees have completed their choice of short courses at their workplaces during work time. More than 5100 short-course credentials have so far been achieved by 3800 learners since Project Ikuna launched in July 2021.
Pam Ford, General Manager of Auckland Council’s Economic Development Office, says the top EDNZ accolade recognises the successful collaboration with MBIE and the effective approach taken by Project Ikuna working with education providers, employers and learners.
“We are absolutely thrilled with this recognition of the excellent work undertaken as part of our Pacific Economic Development strategy,” she says.
“Project Ikuna has delivered incredible results and made a huge contribution to building an innovative, resilient and prosperous Auckland. Congratulations too to all the learners who have been part of Project Ikuna,” Ford says.
Auckland Council’s work on Project Ikuna was led by Sarah Leo, Manager Economic Development – Pacific, who worked with Project Manager Candy Elsmore and Project Co-ordinator, Dion Bond.
“Project Ikuna has brought results and highlighted Pacific peoples’ very valuable contribution to Auckland’s economic prosperity. The feedback we have received from both enrolled businesses and students is incredibly inspiring,” says Sarah Leo.
“We’re really proud to have delivered Project Ikuna so successfully in partnership with central Government,” she says.
“We look forward to continuing the momentum of Pacific economic development with the 28 November release of the Quantifying the Pacific Economy report, in partnership with MBIE,” Leo says.
Project Ikuna was initially expected to wrap up in June 2024, but the programme’s demonstrated success, benefit and impact saw MBIE extend its rollout until the end of December 2025.
Findings from 2024-2025 pre-and post-course participant surveys showed 90 per cent of Project Ikuna participants said they learned what they hoped they would. Nearly 90 per cent felt more confident in the workplace and 96 per cent felt they now knew the personal leaderships skills needed to develop their careers.
A selection of Project Ikuna success stories is available to view here.
As well as the Supreme Award, Project Ikuna also won the Excellence in Inclusive Development and Wellbeing award.
Four further Auckland Council Economic Development Office initiatives earned finalist spots. Overall, the 2025 EDNZ Excellence Awards recognised 20 finalists in seven categories.
Auckland Council Economic Development Office finalists and their categories
Supreme Award winner and Excellence in Inclusive Development and Wellbeing winner
Climate Connect Aotearoa
Excellence in Collaboration finalist
Find Your Franklin (Franklin Local Board)
Highly commended Excellence in Collaboration finalist
Excellence in Innovation finalist
Excellence in Sector and Cluster finalist
The EDNZ Excellence Awards were known as the EDNZ Best Practice Awards until this year. Entries were open to members of EDNZ, a national membership organisation for economic development organisations and individuals.
Several Auckland Council Economic Development Office staff spoke at the 12-13 November EDNZ 2025 Annual Conference, including Cat Kemp, Programme Growth Lead for Climate Connect Aotearoa. Kemp spoke about ClimateWise, a platform empowering small-to-medium-sized businesses to adapt and thrive in a changing climate. Her presentation outlined how collaboration can support SMEs to become more resilient.
Christina Rogstad, the Franklin Local Board’s Local Economic Broker, spoke about building innovative ecosystems and tools for local economic developers.
Cornell Tukiri, Climate Innovation Lead – Māori, shared how local knowledge of place is a vital component of te ao Māori (the Māori world). Grounded in generations of observation and lived connection with the taiao (environment), mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge systems) offer valuable insights to guide climate understanding and decision-making.
John Lavery, Head of Economic Growth and Local Economic Development, and Eve Charles, GridAKL/John Lysaght Startup Hub Manager, also spoke at the conference. So too did Anna-Jane Edwards from supplier diversity intermediary Amotai.
Ngahere Communities’ CEO and Co-founder Manawa Udy, operator of soon-to-open creative innovation hub Te Ngahere GridMNK, spoke about indigenous approaches to economic development. She shared why indigenous-led innovation matters and discussed indigenous tools and frameworks for economic developers.
Project Ikuna is funded by and is part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) Alo Vaka Auckland Pacific Skills Shift initiative, that supports Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Pacific peoples working in jobs more likely to be affected by automation and other technological changes. Alo Vaka is a multifaceted initiative designed to create enabling conditions for Pacific workers, communities, and families in South and West Auckland. Its objective is to help them identify and follow skills pathways to higher-quality, better-paid employment opportunities. This is achieved by addressing foundational employment gaps for Pacific workers, their families, employers, and the broader system.
Project Ikuna has supported Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Pacific workers to upskill during work hours. Funded by MBIE and delivered by Auckland Council, more than 3800 unique learners have completed 5100 Future Ready short courses since Project Ikuna launched in July 2021.
The Project Ikuna programme has been available to Auckland businesses that want to invest and upskill their Pacific workers, enabling them to adapt to the changing nature of work, while creating a better employee experience.
Project Ikuna’s 12 Future Ready Micro-credentials are: Life Online Basics, Life Online at Work (digital literacy), Becoming Money Confident, Growing Money Confidence (financial literacy & management), Introduction to Leadership, Leadership Confidence, Assertiveness & Confidence, Wellbeing at Work, Kaitiakitanga (Sustainability), Conflict Resolution, Preparing for Your Retirement and Preparing for Home Ownership.
Each micro-credential is a 16-hour skills development micro-credential short course, delivered in-work, face to face, by skilled and culturally competent education providers. Assessment and moderation, learner management and credentialling is provided by tertiary partner, Open Polytechnic.
Auckland Council has successfully delivered Project Ikuna on behalf of MBIE since the programme’s launch. Initially funded by central Government to be a four-year programme to be completed in June 2024, Project Ikuna’s demonstrated success, benefit and impact saw the programme extended until the end of December 2025.