PUBLISHED APRIL 2025

Celebrating the tranformative power of education

Our 2025 First Foundation Awards Evening was a special celebration dedicated to Unlocking Opportunity. This event highlighted the transformative power education has in shaping lives, providing pathways to success, and creating positive ripple effects throughout families, communities, and beyond.

Board Chair Michael Harper eloquently captured the essence of the evening by reminding us that “One small action can have an enormous impact.” Reflecting on the origins of First Foundation, he recounted how 26 years ago, an idea sparked a pivotal phone call made to former Prime Minister David Lange. This call led to support from Fletcher Building and the awarding of the very first scholarships—each to students who became the first in their families to attend university.

These initial scholarships created ripples that have now become powerful waves of
change, impacting nearly 1,100 lives directly, and countless others indirectly, across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Celebrating our exceptional scholars

We proudly honoured two remarkable scholars as recipients of the 2025 Trustee Awards: Chevy-Willow Morrell (Gray Family Trust Scholar) and George Gray (New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Scholar). Chevy, already a registered nurse, continues to pursue further achievements with inspiring determination. George, having overcome numerous challenges, is now progressing towards his goal of becoming a lawyer.

These exceptional scholars epitomise the transformative potential of education. Their stories exemplify how opportunities unlocked by education not only change individual lives but also enhance entire communities, influencing fields from healthcare to social justice.

Extraordinary journeys of resilience and achievement

Every nominee for the Trustee Awards represented exceptional resilience, courage, and ambition. Their individual journeys, each uniquely challenging and inspiring, showcase the incredible potential that is unlocked when young people are given access to quality education, mentoring, and financial support.

We invite you to experience their inspiring stories through short videos, each capturing powerful testimonies of ambition and resilience.

Spotlight on alumni success: Patrick Watta

Patrick Watta’s inspiring journey was another highlight of the evening. Migrating from Fiji to South Auckland at age 11, Patrick faced significant financial and social challenges. Through determination, the support of his Spark NZ First Foundation scholarship, and mentoring from Mark Todd, he overcame these barriers to build an exceptional career. Now a proud homeowner in Auckland and a lead quantity surveyor with Miles Construction, Patrick shared powerful lessons from his journey: the value of leveraging connections and networks, the necessity of dedication and resilience, and recognising that success is uniquely defined by each individual. Patrick’s story illustrates how education can not only transform individual lives but also empower entire families and communities to aspire for more.

Celebrating our scholarship partners and funders

The Awards evening was also an opportunity to acknowledge the vital role our scholarship partners and funders play in creating opportunities. It was wonderful to see many scholarship partners spending face-to-face time with their new scholars and meeting their families, strengthening connections that truly make the First Foundation journey so impactful.

Celebrating community impact

The First Foundation Awards evening is more than just a celebration; it is an acknowledgment of the collective effort of our scholars, families, mentors, scholarship partners, and dedicated team. Together, their combined contributions create life-changing opportunities and lasting impacts.

Michael Harper’s speech underlined this collective effort beautifully: “While individually, each action we take might seem small—like the flap of a butterfly’s wings—together, these actions create a thunderclap that changes our country.”

Revisit the celebration

Whether you joined us on the night or missed out, we invite you to revisit the event’s memorable moments. Explore our Awards Gallery to see the joy, pride, and gratitude expressed throughout the evening. Additionally, the live stream recording offers an opportunity to experience the event and share it with others who believe in the transformative power of education.

Join us in creating a brighter future

Your ongoing support remains crucial in continuing this impactful work. By unlocking opportunities through education, mentorship, and community collaboration, together we create a brighter, more equitable future for all.

Let’s continue to inspire, empower, and transform lives—one scholarship at a time.