There are few collaborative work spaces in the country that offer more than just an open-plan office and a printer, but The Kollective in Tauranga is certainly offering more than you regular office supplies.

Based in The Historic Village on 17^th Ave, The Kollective has a focus on giving back to the community.

'The Kollective is the largest co-working space in New Zealand, but it's particularly interesting because it's dedicated to the success of the charitable and not-for-profit community,” says The Kollective general manager Gordy Lockhart.

'Essentially, social impact is the aim of The Kollective, and The Kollective itself is a social enterprise.”

Here's how it works: there are 35 residential member organsations, made up of 91 residential members. These organisations pay a membership fee and in return use the facilities The Kollective offer. Those fees are collected by The Kollective, costs are deducted, and all profits are handed over to TECT to divvy up into the community.

'We produced a profit of $142,000 last financial year, ending March 2020, all of which went back to TECT for redistribution into the community,” says Gordy.

But it's not just about the profits going back into the community. The Kollective offers a collaborative working environment that fosters connections, mutual assistance and community.

'The most important thing that we did – other than the build itself – was the member values agreement,” says Gordy.

'It talks about participation in the community, diversity, it's all about what is a healthy society nowadays. Anyone that signs up to The Kollective has to agree to these principals and join on the basis of the aim of social good for us all.”

'For example,” says Gordy, 'two organisations that we support are ConneXu – which is an organization that owns a few properties around Tauranga and look after the needs of the intellectually and physically handipcapped – and an organisation called Community Living, who supply the equipment for homes like ConneXu.

'Previously, ConneXu would have to go to a website, send an email or call someone to order products that they needed, but now all they do is the look over the top over their desk and ask their neighbour to order what they need.

'Those two organisations are a great example of what The Kollective is all about – for organisations to work that closely together, which saves time, saves money, which they can then redirect into services for their clients."

"The idea that you can help your neighbour with something one week, then your neighbour can help you with something the following week. The whole idea that, as a family we can achieve more, is what The Kollective is all about.”

And it's a system that's working, and working well.

'We were fortunate to win the sustainable business award at the Westpac Tauranga Business Awards, hosted by the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, in 2019 and the social enterprise award in 2020,” says Gordy.

But at the end of the day, it's all about collaboration.

'The most important aspect – and I suppose the social impact – is the collaboration. I know that's the element that I'm most passionate about in terms of the Business Women's Network Speaker Series, is that we can achieve both societal impact and social change by doing collaborations together for a greater social good,” says Gordy.

'The Kollective isn't here to sell anything, we're here to give the idea that the better world is in the interests of everybody. That means that the ideas of equity and equality, the idea that everyone is welcome in the same space, regardless of who they are, who they love, that sort of thing.”

Gordy will be speaking at the Business Women's Network Speaker Series on Thursday, July 8, hosted by Tauranga Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Craigs Investment Partners and Cooney Lees Morgan. His topic?

'The value of collaboration is the key. As organisations and as human beings, we collaborate every day, whether that's with your family, your mates, your neighbour. The idea we'll be presenting at the Speaker Series is about how we can make a bigger social impact and a better world by working together as opposed to working separately.”

For more information on the upcoming Business Women's Network Speaker Series, visit: www.tauranga.org.nz/bwn/bwn-speaker-series-2021