As Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu celebrates 25 years of serving the community, long-time team member Jo White reflects on nearly 21 years with the organisation. From humble beginnings in a small Don Street office to witnessing the growth of a large, multi-service organisation, Jo has been there through it all.
I first started at Nga Kete in 2004. Almost 21 years ago now!
I still remember that first night. It was a Tuesday evening, and I came into our little office on Don Street. I worked for about two hours, just doing the wages and paying bills.But soon after I started working a couple of mornings a week.
It was around that time I found out I was pregnant with my youngest son, Sam. Not long after, we moved to the office on Victoria Avenue.
After maternity leave, I came back to work, and I brought Sam with me. I wasn’t doing many hours, but there was a portacot set up in Tracey’s office and Sam would get passed around the team. He was probably the first “Nga Kete baby”!
He turns 20 this weekend. My kids really have grown up with Nga Kete. When I started, Leighton and Ryan were just one and three. Now they’re 24 and 22. They treated every office like they owned the place!
As my kids grew, my job grew too. I’d work more hours once they were in school, and the flexibility here made a huge difference. Not many workplaces would let you work around your whānau like that. I’ve always felt so lucky. My kids were able to do their sports and activities because of that flexibility.
Before Nga Kete, I’d worked in admin roles at NZ Safety, and a wholesale dairy company. I went to polytech and studied business computing, but I never really knew what I wanted to do. I’ve learnt this job as I’ve gone along, and it’s become a really comfortable place for me.
One of the things that really stands out in my time here was how our staff responded during COVID. Everyone got stuck in. We set up a foodbank, helped run vaccination clinics. It was a massive effort. The team worked incredibly hard, and it all came together really quickly. I was lucky to be able to work from home during that time too.
It still amazes me how big Nga Kete has become over the years. Every time we sit down to plan for the next year, it just keeps growing. If you’d told me 10 years ago we’d have over 100 staff, I wouldn’t have believed you! But we always deliver on what we say we’ll do.
Reaching 25 years as an organisation is a huge achievement. I can’t even imagine what it could look like in another 25 years! For anyone starting here now, make the most of it. Appreciate what you’ve got. Nga Kete really does take care of people. It’s an amazing wraparound service, and I’m proud to have been part of it all these years.
