Community Networks Aotearoa is an umbrella organisation for local community networks. Our membership includes not-for-profit and voluntary social service organisations all over the country.


We are committed to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and are guided by our membership.

What We Do

Empowering and strengthening the community sector.

Be The Voice

We take the voice of the community and let it be heard in order to empower and strengthen the community sector.

Consultation

We consult with Government and other sectors to share thoughts about how to ensure the capacity and capability of CNA members

Connect

We support the capacity of local organisations and connect members with other networks and Government. 

Partnerships

We are committed to creating and nurturing  strategic partnerships with others.

Ros Rice

Executive Director

 

Ros (she/her) has worked in the not-for-profit sector for 25 years. In 2007 she moved to Wellington from Dunedin to take the position of Executive Officer of  the then NZ Council of Social Services which has since rebranded as Community Networks Aotearoa.

 

Apart from her work and focus on membership issues, Ros also works in an advisory capacity to different government departments and runs a radio programme on the sector on Wellington Access Radio that is replayed over 6 other radio stations.

 

Ros works closely with peer organisations and is often found travelling around the country to visit members - especially when asked to come for a visit.

 

Patrick Davies

Executive Assistant / Membership Engagement

Patrick (he/him) navigates a range of jobs from general administration duties to event coordination, and special projects work. Chief among these tasks is doing anything Ros asks (within reason).


Patrick has a background in the Arts having moved to Te Whanganui-a-Tara to begin his Master of Theatre Arts (Directing) at Toi Whakaari. after a long career in Theatre and Film. He has taught and performed both nationally and internationally and has represented Aotearoa/New Zealand in international Improv festivals and is an award winning Director and actor. In amongst it all he has also been a Producer/Administrator, Production Manager, Technician, and Community & Education Coordinator for the NZ Festival. He brings a wealth of transferable skills including cooking food, books, and everything in between.

Dan & Lydia Campbell-Robinson

Communications

Hi, we're Dan & Lydia, a brother & sister duo with expertise in communications and digital marketing. In 2020 amid the pandemic, we founded Aye Studios, a digital studio for For-Purpose organisations. We're a modern creative studio offering services in digital brand strategy, content production, social media and website.


We set out to build a business that would allow us to be intentional around who we work with, supporting organisations that we believe are making genuine positive change. We work with a small number of long-term clients, all of which are in the social and environmental impact space. We're thrilled to be working alongside CNA and look forward to connecting, learning and being apart of the whānau.


Executive Committee

Ko te manu e kai ana i te miro, nōnā te ngāhere

Ko te manu e kai ana i te mātauranga, nōnā te ao

The bird that feasts on the miro berry has the forest

The bird that feast on knowledge has the world

OUR STORY

 

Community Networks Aotearoa (CNA) is the name for a long established national umbrella organisation previously known as the New Zealand Council of Social Services.

 

NZCOSS was formed as a national social service umbrella organisation on 10th November 1975 by signed order from the Minister of Social Welfare, Norman King under the Department of Social Welfare Act 1971. 

 

At that time it operated as a quasi-governmental body with a brief to make recommendations and give advice to the Minister, to encourage and promote cooperation and coordination in social welfare, and to promote local participation in social welfare through the formation and coordination of district and regional Councils of Social Services. By the time it was formed, various local and district COSS had already been operating for several years, initiated by local community groups starting, (we believe), in the 1960s.

 

In 1987  the Minister of Social welfare opened the inaugural NZCOSS conference and funded NZCOSS to host an AGM and employ a half-time staff member. NZCOSS emerged as a fully-fledged independent organisation.

 

In 2014 , following a full organisational review, NZCOSS rebranded as Community Networks Aotearoa (CNA). Since then CNA has moved from strength to strength with local and district membership as well as national organisations joining under the CNA umbrella as well.

 

Following a review from Oranga Tamariki (which became the funder following the closing of Family and Community Services) and due to the work undertaken by staff during the early 2020 lockdown, funding was increased substantially which enabled an expansion of staff and work projects.

 

CNA is still a proud Incorporated Society, by and for the members, and continues to provide information and support for membership as well as advising Government on what is happening to the many thousands of small community organisations in Aotearoa.

 

(Grateful thanks to Conor Twyford who wrote an original history of NZCOSS)

 

WHERE DID THE LOGO COME FROM?

The three mako represent our three stakeholding groups - the Community, CNA, and the Government - coming together face to face, forming relationships, and building pathways.  In te ao Māori mako sharks are a saviour of the seas rescuing sailors in peril.  In the far North, the ocean taniwha Ruamano took the form of a mako and was called upon whenever a waka overturned to deliver the occupants to safety. Together the three mako form a secondary shape – a tī kōuka (cabbage tree).  Tī kōuka are respected for their remarkable ability to grow in all habitats and rebound from disaster.  They have considerable medicinal and food value and were also used as important navigational markers.
Share by: