Funding Systems Change: What We've Learnt

In 2016, the Peter McKenzie Project committee decided to adopt a systems change approach to reducing child poverty. Nine years ago systems practice was in its early days in Aotearoa, so we began ‘learning by doing’ alongside the PMP flotilla (the group of organisations we’ve funded). Over time, our systems understanding, systems practice and funding approach have all continuously evolved.

We’ve deepened our knowledge of the underlying systemic drivers of poverty and learnt first-hand the challenges of achieving long-lasting and transformational change at scale. We’ve seen the ‘conditions for change’ grow, peak and then recede. We’ve seen some promising changes occur at a national level, and things begin to improve for tamariki and whānau - only for these small gains to be lost as economic, social and political tides turn.  We’ve funded different things and funded differently, and continued to learn from systems practitioners both here and internationally.

Here are some of the key reflections from our journey so far – in the hope that they spark recognition, reflection or questions of your own. 

As funders, we need to evolve alongside systems change work

• Supporting systems change isn’t just about funding others to change systems — it requires us to challenge our own ways of thinking, working and relating.
• Systems change calls for different mindsets. We need to become more imaginative, and more comfortable with complexity, emergence and uncertainty.
• We need to do our own “inner work” by looking honestly at how our own funding structures and practices might be reinforcing the very systems we’re hoping to change.
• Systems change is best understood in practice. Experiencing challenges, such as the exhaustion, demoralisation and disappointment of snap-back (when systems resist transformation)               helps us fund more empathetically and effectively.
• Our leadership needs to be adaptive, and we need the right people on our teams — strategic systems thinkers who are relational, reflective and humble.
• Both decision makers and staff teams need to grow their capability in complexity theory, systems thinking, power analysis and Te Tiriti-based practice.
• We need to stretch beyond our comfort zones, and let go of the desire for silver-bullet ‘solutions’. There are no shortcuts. Systems change emerges over a decades-long horizon.

Invest in systems infrastructure — not just projects

In our modern world, the challenges are so entangled that we must invest in more holistic, interconnected ways of working.

• Funders should resource the organisations, connections and practices that help all of us work more systemically, strategically and collectively over time.
• That means funding shared tools and frameworks, training in systems and narrative practice, peer learning networks, convening spaces, systems change coaching, mentoring and more.
• Some of the most powerful organisations in this space are the infrastructure — movement platforms, grass-roots organisers, collectives, connectors, sense-makers, field builders. We need to build career pathways for systems practitioners through consistent, long-term funding of these organisations.
• Funding on-going peer support, wānanga and long-form convening is better than just funding one-off campaigns, pilots, or projects. Otherwise, we risk setting people’s efforts up for failure

  and burnout.

Relationships are the foundation for everything else

• Collaboration doesn’t grow in environments shaped by scarcity and competition. We need different kinds of funding environments if we want people to bring their best thinking and values to the table.
• Organic collaboration emerges from the growth of strong, authentic interpersonal relationships.
• Relationship-building takes time, at least 12–24 months. Plan for and support this phase intentionally.
• Face-to-face hui, facilitated gatherings and shared metaphors, narratives and storytelling are essential elements. Regular convening creates the conditions for relationships and connections

  to grow.

• Relationship work includes holding difference, repairing trust, and navigating complexity — things that need to be resourced, not assumed. Funders need to model these practices too.

Power, politics, and timing can’t be ignored

Systems change is often political. It challenges entrenched structures, interests, and world-views — and it’s naive to think otherwise.

• Systems change work doesn’t just happen in policy settings. It happens in culture, community, media, and behind closed doors.
• The timing of influence matters. Sometimes the most strategic work is about readiness and being prepared for windows of opportunity when they open.
• Working across political divides is important, but discernment is essential. Sometimes powerful systems actors will resist meaningful change regardless of shared statement of values,                  strong evidence or previous public commitments.

Let go of control, but hold onto a systems focus

Systems change is emergent. It doesn’t follow predictable pathways. The interconnected nature of local and global systems requires constant adaption of strategy to respond to new and               unexpected conditions.

•  Notice the pull towards ‘business as usual’, the familiar ways of thinking, working and relating that we’ve learnt in the past.  Systems practice invites us to gently challenge ourselves and               others when old mindsets resurface, especially when those patterns undermine the deeper shifts we’re aiming for.
• High-trust funding is vital — but trust doesn’t mean disengagement.
• Create the right conditions for collective understanding and mahi to emerge, then support it to grow.
• Iterate your understanding of strategic systems-focused work by learning from and with the organisations you’re funding.
• Encourage, support and model activating imagination, reflective practice and other systems-informed practices.

New narratives are a core element of systems change

Public narratives shape what’s seen as possible. Shifting them takes time, strategy, and infrastructure, plus the ability to imagine.

• Shifting away from individualistic framing and towards collective wellbeing will be needed to achieve lasting policy change.
• Building stronger ‘narrative coalitions’ (clear messages, many voices) can help us to counter well-funded status quo messaging.
• We need to back storytellers, narrative strategists, and communications capacity. These are not ‘nice-to-haves’, but a critical piece of the puzzle.

Prioritise indigenous world views

• Indigenous cultures are globally acknowledged as holding ways of knowing and being that embody alternative world views with the potential to shift systems to a healthier state.
• Te reo Māori and Mātauranga Māori provide an indigenous perspective that encompasses many aspects of knowledge. This knowledge supports ecosystem understandings and innovative

  approaches that challenge dominant world-views.

• Valuing and funding Māori (and other indigenous) systems practitioners and organisations creates opportunities to notice, challenge and rebalance the mindsets holding current systems in place.

Embrace learning as a core practice

Shift from outcomes focused evaluation toward learning-focused, adaptive approaches.

• Create spaces for shared reflection, not just individual reporting. Learning should be collective, relational, and useful.
• Safe spaces for discussing failure, change, and emergence are crucial.
• Challenge and rigour can be part of your learning approach. Within trusting relationships we can ask each other to stretch further or imagine bigger, notice when we’re still operating from linear, mechanistic world-views and give and receive feedback.