Last week Stephen and Margaret Tindall had a great afternoon with around 30 graduates of Unitec’s Not for Profit Management Diploma Programme.
They gathered at the office of Auckland North Community & Development in Takapuna to say a personal thank you over afternoon tea to The Tindall Foundation founders, who have been long standing supporters of the Graduate Diploma Programme, providing scholarship fees for students since 1998.
Over $550,000 has been donated to Unitec to provide scholarships to over 1000 students. This fits within the Foundation’s Strengthening the Community Sector programme area, under the goal of Research and Education.
The success of the Not for Profit Management Programme is evident in the current community sector workforce. Unitec tells us that Tindall Foundation funded scholarships have helped as many as 10% of all NGO managers in the country. It is great to see the wide reaching impact within the sector. Our very own Trevor Gray, who was The Tindall Foundation Manager for 13 years, is a graduate of the Diploma and we all know how knowledgeable he is and what an amazing asset he is to this sector.
According to Unitec, the winner and half the finalists in the 2016 New Zealander of the Year ‘Local Hero’ Award, were graduates of the programme!
As the Not for Profit Management Programme celebrates 20 years this year, there are to be changes afoot. This will be the last cohort of students to complete the programme as it is currently, as it is finishing at the end of 2016. We understand the course will be amalgamated into a more general management course under the business school.
We thank everyone who has been involved in delivering the programme and congratulate all those talented graduates who are now using their skills working in the community sector right across the country.