PUBLISHED AUGUST 2024
Signing new commitment will empower underserved students in STEM
First Foundation is pleased to welcome Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Foundation as a new Principal Partner.
From left: Amanda Gilchrist, Neerali Parbhu, Marcus Driller, Rachel Petero, and Kirk Sargent celebrate the new partnership.
This partnership brings together industry contribution and educational support to overcome barriers to STEM careers, explains Kirk Sargent.
“Both our organisations use innovative solutions to drive positive change.
“Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Foundation funds organisations that are looking to apply original solutions to empower healthier communities, with a particular focus on South Auckland. This aligns with our innovative approach to helping first-in-family students to earn degrees.
Addressing STEM inequity
Neerali Parbhu, Foundation Lead at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Foundation says, “We are so excited to extend our partnership to really address the inequity in the STEM pipeline that exists and has existed for a very long time.”
“First Foundation’s approach of a ‘hand up, not a hand out’ continues to resonate with the Foundation’s trustees.”
“Connecting with our incredible scholars over the last few years has highlighted the impact we can have by getting behind them to help them reach their true potential.”
Joining forces with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Foundation allows First Foundation to extend reach and deepen our impact. Their support is invaluable, enabling us to equip our scholars with the tools they need to overcome barriers and excel academically and professionally.”
The two organisations began partnering in 2021 and the Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Foundation has supported six students to attend university. One of these is Helen Thai from Aorere College. For her, the scholarship and the mentor it brought signalled a way she could realise her dreams of attending university.
Endless opportunities
“Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has so many departments and things you can do. My mentor Stephanie is a bioengineer, so she’s been able to help me choose courses, advise me on how to study at university, and help me tackle the first year.”
2021 Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Foundation scholar, Helen Thai
A projected 80 percent of future jobs will require maths and science skills.
Roseanne Leaupepe, General Manager of Quality Systems at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare is one of First Foundation’s earliest alumna and she is delighted to see more students will benefit from the programme. She says the programme has a special role to play in New Zealand’s future.
Roseanne grew up in South Auckland, and she believes early exposure to role models and the professionals that First Foundation provided was instrumental in her success.
“It was so valuable to start the programme in Year 12. You learn the importance of relationships; you learn the dynamics of the workplace; you see how career pathways pan out. The mentoring begins at a crucial time when you need to make a call on what subjects to take at uni.”
