Since his appointment to the HBF Board in November 2023, Andrew Caseley has made it his mission to make his own mark on the Community Foundation, both as a Trustee and, together with his wife Katie, a dedicated donor.

As a born and bred local who is now back in Hawke’s Bay permanently, Andrew’s made no secret about his desire to make the maximum difference where he can, to help alleviate inequality and deprivation in his home region.

We sat down with Andrew to understand what drives him.

What are you hoping to achieve with your charitable giving through HBF?

For us it is all about making a difference in the Hawke’s Bay community. For a variety of reasons inequity in our society has, and continues to increase, which is not healthy for anyone. We’d like to see this slowed or even reversed and philanthropic giving is one of the ways we think this can be achieved.

Our personal part of the annual distributions the Foundation makes will not make a huge difference. However, through growth of the Foundation, if we could further multiply the current amount distributed by 10 or even 50 times then that’s when we’d really be able to collectively make a meaningful difference

Have you and your wife got any specific causes or organisations that you’d like to help support through your named fund?

While there are some local charities that we have historically supported we back the Foundation’s donation philosophy of identifying the areas of greatest need to target our annual donations to where they can have the greatest impact. Consequently, we don’t see the need to stipulate how our annual donation amount should be used.

How important to you is the idea of leaving a legacy through your charitable activity?

We think it’s a great idea and an important developing part of New Zealander’s philanthropic psyche. In our own small way we are following in the footsteps of some of our stand out philanthropists such as Sir Stephen Tindall and Sir Mark Dunajtschik.

You have put in immeasurable hours contributing to three committees, since joining HB. How did you hear about HBF and why are you passionate to support it to the extent that you do?

We have been aware of HBF since its inception as Tim & Jules Nowell -Usticke are very old friends who have always been passionate advocates for the Foundation.

We believe the Community Foundation model is fantastic as it creates an enduring investment fund whose returns can be distributed, in perpetuity, for the benefit of the community. We have been annual donors to numerous charities over many years, but a meaningful lumpsum contribution had a lot of attraction at this stage in our lives.

When I put my name forward for possible appointment as a Trustee, I had just stepped back from fulltime employment and was committed to being an actively contributing Trustee. My aim is to do all I can to grow the Foundation in the shortest time possible, to ultimately make the biggest difference to the community. Since my appointment I have been determined to become fully familiar with the workings of the Foundation as quickly as possible and hence my involvement on numerous committees and providing other input that can make a difference.