.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
Let's work together
We work with you to bring people together
for positive change in three ways:
We listen
Every community holds its own knowledge of what matters most. We take the time to listen closely, and let that shape what comes next.
We're listening across flood-affected communities
When extreme weather hit Tāmaki Makaurau in early 2023, it left people with damaged homes, disrupted routines and uncertain futures. We've supported community-led recovery in several of these places alongside Auckland Council's Flood Recovery Office, helping local rōpū, neighbours, businesses and whānau define what matters most to them and take practical steps toward a future they want.
-
In Pūhoi, we walked alongside local leaders who turned a community photo exhibition into the Love Pūhoi campaign, naming what they cherish, what feels at risk, and what they want to grow as recovery unfolds.
-
In Epsom, locals created 221 hand-painted "wish leaves," now installed as a kinetic mural on an empty Category 3 site.
-
In Mt Eden, our work has brought residents together at neighbourhood scale to reimagine how flood impacted spaces could support flood resilience, everyday community life, and new forms of shared commons.
-
Meanwhile, in Pukekohe, we supported conversations that placed the awa at the centre – ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au – exploring how people and water can coexist in ways that honour past, present and future.
We activate
The energy for good change already lives within community. We walk gently alongside people, helping that energy take shape.
In Auckland's fast-growing city centre, we've spent the past year leading a community development programme in Victoria Quarter South. This vertical neighbourhood is home to more than 5,000 residents from all over the world living in one of the country's most dense and diverse neighbourhoods.
Catalyse is helping activate local leadership and a shared sense of place, and has opened The Common Room, the first dedicated third space in the neighbourhood that acts as a living room for the local community.
Co-designed with more than 100 locals and named by the community, The Common Room is now run by local volunteer hosts. A growing network of community champions, business owners, residents and building managers are beginning to lead the change locally, supported by Catalyse.
We're activating local leadership
in Victoria Quarter South
We connect
Lasting change grows through relationship, not through any single action. We help people find one another, and nurture the trust that carries the work forward.
We're helping good stories connect with
the people who need to hear them
Facts inform, but stories connect. In partnership with ANCAD, Community Waitākere and Auckland Council, we developed and delivered a workshop series helping community organisations communicate in ways that feel true, effective and culturally grounded, even to people who don't yet know their kaupapa.
Working with values research alongside Māori and Pasifika worldviews, we helped participants shift from "getting the message right" to understanding who they hope will hear and act on their stories, whether funders, policymakers or neighbours. In 2026 this continues and Catalyse has developed A Storytelling for Impact & Influence website, bringing together the tools, recordings and exemplar stories from groups like Changing Minds, Belong Aotearoa and A Fool's Company.
We love our work
Catalyse fuses passion with expertise to drive community change. Our offerings encompass strategy, research, placemaking, and more. All tailored to your situation. We navigate consciously, respect diversity, and turn visions into reality. Let's collaborate and catalyse change together!
ENGAGEMENT
RESEARCH
PLACEMAKING
MENTORING
EVALUATION
STRATEGY
FACILITATION
Brave, Generous and Humble
The fields of “community development”, “community empowerment”, “placemaking” and myriad other terms that have become catch cries in inverted commas are difficult, emotional and highly complex landscapes to traverse. There are very few people/organisations who are able to make these journeys with the level of kindness, skill, empathy and wisdom that Catalyse brings. Working between the extremes of knowing that what exists in community needs to be protected, and knowing that our systems need to change, Denise and her team are consistently brave, generous and resolutely humble.
— Frith Walker
Manager Placemaking
Auckland Urban Development Office
Our Clients
.png)
