25 Foundation Grantees
To mark the Foundation's 25th anniversary, we're looking back on some of the amazing individuals we've supported over the years, be it through grants, internships, residencies or other opportunities.
Media
It’s a career path most New Zealand journalists could only dream of. Massey journalism graduate Tarek Bazley set out on that path in 2000, when he applied for the Foundation’s inaugural internship at the Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia.
Arts
Sensual, exuberant and optimistic. These are adjectives used by one New Zealand gallery to describe the engaging works of social practice artist Tiffany Singh – works to be “encountered with joy”.
Leadership
In 2018 Angela was one of five Kiwi Young Business Leaders selected by the Foundation to visit Indonesia to learn about its business and tech environment.
Entrepreneurship
High achievers is putting it mildly when describing Chloe and Florence van Dyke, the brains behind the very successful CHIA Sisters juice drinks.
Education
Music teacher Brent Strathdee-Pehi already had an interest in Asia when he was picked to take part in the Foundation’s Indonesia Cultural Connections trip in 2017, but he was still unprepared for what he found.
Media
Securing the funding to make a feature is just the starting point for TVNZ’s Sunday programme. It’s then that the hard work begins.
Arts
The New Zealand School of Dance applied for its first grant in 1994 to send three students to the 5th Asian Pacific Ballet competition in Tokyo.
Research
A spy story with all the ingredients for a best-selling novel provided the inspiration for Paul Winter’s 2018 doctoral research project, funded in part by a Foundation research grant.
Media
Award-winning political journalist Andrea Vance says she’s had “a lot of amazing adventures and stories” in her time, but her Jefferson Fellowship funded by the Foundation was one of the best.
Arts
In 2004 Dunedin-based painter and printmaker Simon Kaan was the first recipient of an Asia:NZ/Creative New Zealand (CNZ) residency at Beijing’s Red Gate Gallery.
Track II
Massey PhD student Vanessa Bramwell was privately a bit daunted when she was invited to her first offshore Track II event as one of the Foundation’s “genepool” of NextGen candidates.
Education
Gaining first-hand experience of the way businesses operate in China proved a turning point in the careers of Glendowie College teachers Bridget Rothbart and Pritika Harduar in Auckland.
Research
Canterbury University PhD student Ashalyna Noa’s fascination with foreign aid and soft power in the Pacific stems from what she terms “The complexities of my own cultural identity”.
Track II
The biggest lesson “NextGen” postgraduate student Sarah Pereira took away from her first real-life Track II event in Vietnam was that young as she is, she still has something valuable to contribute.
Media
It was a lingering curiosity about China that led Massey journalism student Julia Hollingsworth to put her hand up for an internship at the Shanghai Daily. That decision in 2012 was to change her life.
Business
When you’re starting out in your career, being able to demonstrate that you’ve got some experience can make all the difference, as former business intern Edward Smith has found.
Leadership Network
Josh Wharehinga has a policy for the Foundation’s Leadership Network: “The answer is always yes”.
Business
Between trying out ice-fishing and being wowed by virtual reality technology, it’s safe to say the three months Pang Suwanaposee spent in South Korea was varied.
Leadership Network
Leadership Network member Tim McCready says the experiences he has had with the Asia New Zealand Foundation have gone on to unlock bigger opportunities and shape his career.
Leadership Network, Business
Fiona Natusch says she remembers being intimidated when she attended her first Leadership Network event in 2011.
Entrepreneurship
Make-up artist and eyelash specialist Sharee Wilkinson is a woman on a mission now she’s seen for herself the opportunities in Asia for her luxury possum fur lashes.
Business/Leadership Network
Frances Brown was no stranger to Japan when she took up the Foundation’s opportunity to intern at the Kyushu Railway Company in 2009.
Leadership Network
You could say that Graci Kim has grown up with the Asia New Zealand Foundation.