Good!
We are proud to present work & people productive in the community that inspires us, paves a way toward thriving & aspiration for change.
This, is what good looks like.
Changemaker:
Kat Kaiwai
30 November 2023
Kat Kaiwai fizzes with energy, even on the phone. Asked to describe herself she comes up with solutions-focussed, opportunistic and breaking down barriers if necessary to get to the goal. She’s a key player in the Thriving Infrastructure group now testing the Toolbox app in the East Coast area.
She owns and runs Tairawhiti Contractors, based in Ruatoria and specialising in traffic management.
When she started five years ago many of her staff were school leavers who she helped get basic qualifications like drivers’ licences and the certification needed to work on state highways. Right now she’s responding to other local needs, employing and training older staff who have had their jobs wiped out by storms.
That’s the day job. She also consults for other sector businesses, and more recently has been supporting Thriving Infrastructure colleague Hollie on the Toolbox app, is a Connexis ambassador for women in civil infrastructure, and provides 460 lunches a week to local schools because, she says, she understands the logistics of getting supplies around the remote area.
She has been a key player in her region for advice and logistics – especially in weather events.
Image: Supplied
Her dad was a local but she grew up in Wellington, working originally as “a pen pusher.’ Wanting to relocate to where she’d spent so many happy holidays, she applied for a Fulton Hogan role as a contracts administrator. From there Kat moved around a bit, including spending a couple of years seeing civil construction firsthand as a labourer and doing traffic management before moving up to supervisory and management roles.
Then came a stint as a subcontractor to Downer, coinciding with a daughter starting school in Ruatoria and the need to be closer to home.
Her Linked-In profile led to an invitation to sign up to a Thriving Infrastructure group, and then a Wellington workshop which brought diverse players together.
“I wasn’t there for long and I saw what I was looking for. I saw the opportunities,” she says.
It gave her ”lots of little pingy ideas” for other areas she’d like to explore. “But I tell myself to stay in my lane,” she laughs.
“Half of them didn’t know what a website was before,” she says. “But I’ve had 19 responses for this. Usually we get between six and ten.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time on Toolbox but I’ve absolutely loved it. I look to do things where there’s a need.”
Image: Supplied