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Contents
Impact-driven entrepreneurs wanting to set up business in Aotearoa New Zealand have a range of legal structures to choose from, albeit a more narrow range than in other jurisdictions.
Released today, our co-authored white paper, Purpose-driven structures for Impact Entrepreneurs in Aotearoa New Zealand, focuses on the available legal structures in New Zealand as well as indigenous concepts of Te Ao Māori (the Māori worldview) and approaches. It also charts some developments in thinking and legislation overseas on “steward ownership”.
We believe that kaitiakitanga and stewardship models are the way of the future as we move from an extractive economy to a regenerative one. Many legal permutations are possible to support impact-driven businesses in New Zealand – although none are specifically designed to motivate or incentivise impact-driven entrepreneurship. Each general structure covered in this white paper has its benefits and limitations, and what works best for one organisation’s aims will be different to what works for another’s aims.
With the benefit of the overview in this white paper, we hope that impact driven entrepreneurs will feel empowered to explore the currently available options and overlaying concepts and develop a New Zealand structure to implement their vision. If that can be done, then we will move towards more models being available in our toolkit that enhance stewardship options for the future. In addition, we look forward to proposals about possible changes to our laws in New Zealand that could further catalyse more purpose primacy models.
