First Foundation/

Our Successes

In 1998, the three inaugural scholarships were awarded in Auckland. Now, 14 years on, First Foundation awards scholarships in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and more recently, Whangarei and Dunedin.

graphFirst Foundation's success has been made possible through a combination of:

  • quality and impact of a First Foundation scholarship
  • willingness of many of our current Scholarship Partners to offer repeat scholarships in what has recently been a difficult economic environment
  • continued recruitment of new Scholarship Partners. We recruited 15 new Scholarship Partners in 2011 to offer new scholarships - bringing the total number of corporate partners with whom we currently work with to 67
  • our talented Mentors playing a crucial role
  • cooperation and support of our Partnering Schools.

We have now reached a record level of current Scholars on our programme and we have awarded a total of 300 scholarships.

But if there is one metric by which we measure the achievements of First Foundation, it is not really any of the above. In fact it is everything to do with the talented young New Zealanders whose lives have been changed through First Foundation. In the end, the thing we most care about are their stories.

Where are they now?

Check out our Alumni, which includes the following;

Roseanne Leaupepe

Class of 2000
School: McAuley High School

Scholarship Partner: ION Ltd

Roseanne gained a placement at the University of Auckland's Engineering School, where she completed her Masters Degree. She is now working for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare in California as a Design Engineer.

Aradhna Raj

Class of 2001
School: Mt Roskill Grammar School

Scholarship Partner: ASB

Aradhna was initially contemplating Business Studies as her choice of study, but was then accepted into the University of Auckland as a Medical Student. Aradhna is now a Junior Doctor (or more specifically, a house officer) working in the Emergency Department at Middlemore Hospital and studying Radiology at the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR). She has already made the decision of giving back to other students in the form of mentoring.

Daniel McCabe

Class of 2002
School: One Tree Hill College
Scholarship Partner: ACP Media

After completing his Bachelor of Communications and subsequent undergraduate programme with ACP Media, Daniel is now working in London as an events supervisor at Porchester Hall, a 1929 venue that hosts a variety of events from music showcases, sports events and weddings to television shows with the likes of comedian Jimmy Carr, and reality stars Sharon and Ozzie Osbourne.

Jamie-Lee Kingi

Class of 2002
School: Papakura High School

Scholarship Partner: TVNZ

Having completed her Bachelor of Design, Jamie-Lee is studying for a Master of Design by Project at Unitec: an exploration of the Maori Paradigm, referencing the creation stories and processes of haputanga and how these ideas may exist as an occupiable space. Being awarded an Interior Designers Educators Association (IDEA) Post Graduate Scholarship has allowed Jamie-Lee to travel to Brisbane to present her research to international delegates at the IDEA Symposium.

2002 Jamie Lee Kingi

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