Neil Craig ONZMNeil founded Craig & Co. Ltd in 1984 in Whakatāne, and through a series of acquisitions has grown the company, now Craigs Investment Partners, to be one of New Zealand’s largest full service investment advisory firms with 20 Branches nationwide. In the early 2000s, Neil was introduced to the concept of Community Foundations by friend Bill Holland, which resulted in the establishment of the Acorn Foundation, based in the Bay of Plenty. Neil remains actively involved as more Community Foundations have been established across the country. He has first-hand knowledge of how a Community Foundation grows and how giving in perpetuity benefits both the community and the donor’s wishes, as well as the crucial role professional advisers play in this process. Craigs Investments Partners is a long term partner of Community Foundations of New Zealand at a national level and also at a community level where Craigs has a Branch office. Neil has also been appointed as one of Community Foundations of New Zealand’s founding Ambassadors, acknowledging his immense contribution to the growth of Community Foundations of New Zealand and Community Foundations across the country. In 2016 Neil was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to business and philanthropy
Patron
Peter Anstis
Our amazing Patron - Peter Anstis whose vision and philanthropy have been the driving success behind the Eastern Bay Community Foundation.
Peter’s dream began as an idea to grow and support the region he has lived in and loves. Starting in 2005 with the establishment of the Ōpōtiki Community Trust Steering Group which is now the Eastern Bay Community Foundation.
Ambassadors
Ross GreenRoss Green was born in Whakatāne and at a young age the family moved to Ōpōtiki where he did his early schooling at Ōpōtiki Primary. He went to secondary school as a boarder in Auckland and while he returned home for holidays from school and later Auckland University he never lived in the town again. His family remained in Ōpōtiki but even after all these years later, he still refers to himself as an “Ōpōtiki boy”. After university he married Josephine, an Auckland girl, and soon after they set off on an overseas adventure, first to London and then to New York City where Ross completed an MBA degree in finance and pursued a career in banking and business. The arrival their first child bought them back to Auckland after 8 years away. Back home again he used his background in banking and finance to kick-start a career in property at a time when the market was recovering from the impacts of the 1987 share market crash. In the early 1990’s he and a partner founded the Kiwi Income Property Trust which a few years later was listed on the NZX and grew to be one of the largest property investment funds in NZ. After selling his interest in KIP he continued to operate as a property investor in a private capacity. He was part of a small group of investors who acquired a large holding of undeveloped waterfront land from Ports of Auckland in 1997 that is now known as Viaduct Harbour. That same group also owns industrial land in Mt Maunganui very close to the Port of Tauranga. And in the 2003 he led an investment group that acquired all of Fletcher Forests land holding in the Taupo and Bay of Plenty regions. Over time most of the forests were on-sold with the exception of a large forest off State Highway 5, north of Taupo, and over the past 20 years this block has been converted from a forest into a mixture of pastoral farming, cropping and forestry along with land retired for the regeneration of native forest. Ross has lived in Auckland since his return from the US and has two children and six grandchildren all living close by.
Anne Tolley JPAnne Tolley has wide experience in local and national politics over the last 30 years. Anne served for nine years as a Government Minister (2008-2017), holding the portfolios of education, police, corrections, social development, children, and local government. From 2017 to 2020, she served as Deputy Speaker of the House. She was also the Parliamentary representative to the International Parliamentarians Union. First elected to Napier City Council in 1986, Anne was then elected to the inaugural Hawke’s Bay Regional Council for one term, and later served as Deputy Mayor of Napier for six years until 1995. In 1999, Anne first entered Parliament as a list MP for the National Party, based in Napier. She then moved to Gisborne and successfully contested the East Coast electorate in 2005; a seat that she held until her retirement from national politics in 2020. In 2021 Anne was appointed as Chair of the Commission managing Tauranga City Council until July 2024. Anne is currently chair of the Horizon Energy Group Board, being appointed in August 2024, and also chairs the New Zealand Chapter of Transparency International, a position she has held since 2020.
Email: admin@easternbaycommunityfoundation.nz
Call: 021 336 226
Registered Charity Commission: #CC42087
Find us:
15 George Street, Whakatane
PO Box 435, Whakatane 3159
