Funding academic ambitions

Kate Edger was the first woman in NZ to graduate (in 1877) and the second woman in the British Empire.

The Kate Edger Foundation (KEF) honours Kate’s legacy by providing financial awards and assistance to fund the advancement, promotion and encouragement of education for women.

KEF owes its existence to the foresight and sustained efforts of several generations of women who passionately believed in education for women, starting as the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Federation of University Women (NZFUW) in 1920, which had a record of generous giving to national and international women’s projects… see more below.

Background and development for the KEF awards programme

The substantial funding held by the KEF owes its existence to the foresight and sustained efforts of several generations of women who passionately believed in education for women and girls.

From its foundation in 1920, the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Federation of University Women (NZFUW) had a record of generous giving to national and international women’s projects, especially to National and International Federation of University Women Fellowship funds and to Auckland causes, including a fund for needy women students in the Depression years of the 1930s. Until the 1950s, funds for these purposes were raised by methods such as garden parties, fairs and the sale of Christmas cards. Many recipients of these early national and/or international fellowships went on to have illustrious academic and professional careers, and have repaid this early assistance by invaluable long service on selection panels and committees of the NZFUW (Auckland Branch) Charitable Trust and then The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust.

During the 1950s, the Auckland Branch, under the leadership of Mrs Dorothy Winstone (later Dame), began hiring out academic regalia for graduation ceremonies. This enterprise, which grew to the now-profitable Academic Dress Hire business (now rebranded The Graduation Place), was carried out for nearly thirty years entirely by the voluntary labour of Auckland Branch members.

Awards specific to the Auckland area started in 1973 when the Auckland Branch established the Tressa Thomas and Auckland Branch Retraining Awards, using the interest from a gift of $4000 from the family of Tressa D. Thomas, supplemented by a contribution from the income from Academic Dress Hire. These awards have varied in number and amount over the years according to the funds available, rising to approximately 42 per year at $1,500 each in 2015, and to $2,000 each in 2017.

In 1980, to mark the occasion of its sixtieth anniversary, the Auckland Branch established a Postgraduate Fellowship “to assist women undertaking postgraduate studies for a doctoral degree at the University of Auckland.” The first award was made in 1981. The University of Auckland administered this award until 1996, when the NZFUW Auckland Branch Inc. established its own Fellowships’ committee, together with a range of new awards.

In 1992 the Auckland Branch set up the New Zealand Federation of University Women (Auckland Branch) Charitable Trust, which assumed responsibility for managing the Academic Dress Hire operation and disbursing the resulting income for awards. An Academic Dress Hire Committee was set up to oversee the regalia hire operation, now large enough to require employment of part-time staff as well as voluntary help. The Charitable Trust established and funded additional awards in 1996 (The 75^th Jubilee Final Year First Degree Scholarship and the 75^th Jubilee Master’s Degree Scholarship), 1997 (the New Start Award), and in 2000 (the Millennium Awards for Undergraduate Students and the Millennium Research Awards).

After many years, when the selection of awards recipients was handled separately for each award, an over-arching Fellowships Committee was established in 1997. Renamed the Awards Committee some years later, this body comprised the Coordinators of the Award Sub-Committees responsible for each award, together with the President of the Auckland Branch and the Academic Dress Hire Coordinator, ex officio. The Awards Committee reviewed the regulations, application forms, selection procedures and closing dates for the awards annually. As the number of tertiary educational Institutes in the Auckland area grew and increased funds became available, further awards were able to be added when additional needs were identified.

In 2005, as a result of changes in the legislation governing charitable trusts, the assets and responsibilities of the NZFUW (Auckland Branch) Charitable Trust were transferred to The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust (KEECT), established on 1 July 2005 with the same objectives as its predecessor. In 2024, the KEECT was renamed the Kate Edger Foundation (KEF).

In addition to the Tressa Thomas Retraining Awards, there is a number of named awards, which recognise the significant contributions of a number of women to the programme instituted by the Auckland Branch of the Federation of Graduate Women, which is now administered by KEF:

Dame Dorothy Winstone was the first coordinator of the academic dress hire programme that was to provide funding for the Auckland Branch awards.

Rae Hammer was a Chairperson of the Academic Dress Committee of the Auckland Branch and Secretary of its Trust. She also instituted the Regalia Boutique and was the initial Secretary/Treasurer of the KEF.

Dame Joan Metge served as Awards Coordinator of the Auckland Branch and carried out an extensive revision of the Awards programme and application process.

Emeritus Professor Dame Charmian O’Connor was the initial Chair of the KEF, and was responsible for ensuring that both the business and awards programme continued as a separate organisation at the time leading to the wind up of the Auckland Branch of NZFGW. She has also served as Chair of the Awards Committee.

Dr Elizabeth Godfrey succeeded Dame Joan Metge as Awards Coordinator during the establishment of the KEF. She has continued to serve on the Awards Committee.

Jane Bellamy succeeded Dr Elizabeth Godfrey as Awards Coordinator in 2009 and worked during a period of significant growth in the number and value of the awards offered.

In 2016, a substantial bequest was left to the KEF from the estate of Vinka Marinovich for awards to be made to students from the School of Music and the School of Engineering at the University of Auckland. Vinka’s passion was music and during her career she taught music at the University of Auckland School of Music and at Auckland Girls Grammar School and she was also an organist at St Patrick’s Cathedral. The bequest to Engineering was in honour of her brother who died while a student at the School of Engineering. Vinka was a lifelong member of the Auckland Branch of the NZFGW and her bequest was originally to that organisation. Since that organisation had ceased to exist, the Trustees of her estate decided to pass the bequest onto the KEF.

In 2016 the Titirangi and Blockhouse Bay Branch of the New Zealand Women’s Institute donated a sum in memory of Mrs Macandrew, a long-time member and benefactor of the Branch and a talented pianist. It is to assist a woman enrolled in the third year of the Performing and Screen Arts programme at Unitec. 

In 2018, the KEF launched a Schools’ Competition to celebrate the 125 anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand. Entries were sought from Year 13 students in the Auckland and Northland region in the categories of prose, poetry, art, photography and film. This has become an annual competition, which has been sponsored by Timeless Photography since 2019.

In 2019, several new donors came forward to sponsor awards. Bed Bath and Beyond (BB&B) established three awards, one for female students studying at Manukau Institute of Technology, one for students who are attending Manurewa High School and intending to go on to tertiary studies in the following year, and one for children of BB&B employees. The latter two awards represented a new direction for KEF, as the recipients can be male or female, and can attend a tertiary institute anywhere in New Zealand.

The New Zealand Contemporary Art Trust made a substantial endowment to the KEF in 2019, which will enable one award per annum to be granted to a student, male or female, studying an arts-related subject at an institution in Auckland or Northland.

Academic Search International established an award to support a Māori and or Pasifika student studying Midwifery at Auckland University of Technology. This award is now sponsored by the Trustees of the KEF.

In 2019, a special Tressa Thomas Retraining Award was established. The family of Michele Harris donated $10,000 to fund one $2000 award per annum for five years. This is to be awarded to a Tressa Thomas Retraining Award applicant who is either interested in a career assisting those with learning difficulties, or who has herself experienced learning difficulties. In 2022, another special Retraining Award was established, the Women in Nursing Award in honour of the Rua and Clarrie Stevens Trust, which is to be awarded each year to a Tressa Thomas Retraining Award applicant who is studying Nursing.

COVID-19 presented a considerable challenge. With the implementation of public health regulations preventing large public gatherings, graduation ceremonies were cancelled in April/May 2020. This had a major impact on the KEF’s income. In response, the decision was made to decrease the budget for the Awards, by withdrawing some awards in 2020, and decreasing the number of Awards available in other categories. This enabled us to honour the KEF’s commitment to support and empower students, while ensuring that the Trust remains financially viable into the future. Fortunately, with the removal of restrictions on gatherings and the return of Graduation Ceremonies from early 2022, from the 2022-23 financial year, the KEF was able to return to the full budget for the Awards programme.

In 2021, the decision was made by the Board to remove Massey Albany from the list of institutes from which students are eligible to apply for awards. This decision was made on the basis of considerations of equity; all Massey students are eligible to apply for awards through the Manawatu Graduate Women Trust, which receives the income from the regalia hire for all Massey graduations. Massey Albany students are also able to apply to North Shore Graduate Women for funding.

Over the 2021-22 financial year, several new Awards were established. The Midwifery/Nursing Placement Award in Memory of Ngaire Miller was established following a substantial endowment from the family of Ngaire Miller, a pioneer in nursing education in New Zealand. The Women in Business Award was established thanks to a donation from Trustee Hilary Lewis. The Women in Fine Arts Award in Memory of Carol Schofield was established thanks to a donation from the friends and family of Carol Schofield, who was an avid supporter of the art scene in Auckland. A new award was also funded by the KEF, the Women in Law Award.

In 2022, a statement of the KEF’s core principles and criteria for sponsorship of awards was drawn up by the Trust Chair, Stephanie Harris, and the Awards Committee Chair, Linda Bryder. This statement is included on p.7 of this Manual. Following discussions by the Trust Board, it was decided that the KEF would refocus its funding efforts upon awards for women. This meant that while the existing sponsored awards for men and women would continue, any new sponsored awards would be for women only.

In 2022 there have also been new awards established as a result of donations. The Women in Science Award in Memory of Sylvia Tredwell is to support women studying towards a degree in science. The Master of Music Therapy Award, sponsored by the Gattung Family Foundation, is to support a Māori and/or Pasifika woman studying towards becoming a Music Therapist. The Resilience Award in Memory of Elizabeth Crannigan is for a current KEF awardee, to recognise and reward determination and resilience in overcoming hardship.

2023 saw the establishment of another new Award. The Te Whare Wharapiki Wairua Mana Wahine Judges Award, sponsored by the Gattung Foundation, is intended to assist women who have graduated from the Alcohol and Other Drugs Treatment Court (AODTC), and are now pursuing tertiary education. This award recognises the hard work, outstanding contribution and change-making potential demonstrated by a graduate of the AODTC.

Power of education for women

KEF believes in the power of education where equitable outcomes in education have been shown to be the key to improving intergenerational disadvantage, providing sustainable employment opportunities, improving pay equity and ensuring societal wellbeing.  

While it would be wonderful to support all, we feel by putting our focus and energy into supporting women only, the benefits will spread out to supporting all – families, whanau and communities. Women’s education has been shown to be a powerful force for transformation in families and communities. 

Our driving force is to empower women through education and we achieve this by funding scholarships and awards that help remove the financial barriers to study.  Awards range from $2,000 to $18,000.  And they are life-changing! Not just because they provide financial support and a stepping-stone to a career, but also because they provide women with validation. 

When someone believes in you, it’s easier to believe in yourself.  
And when you believe in yourself, anything in possible.

In the last 19 years, the Kate Edger Foundation (was Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust) has granted over $10.5million of educational awards, and in doing so, we have reshaped the lives of more than 1,600 wahine.  But we haven’t done it alone.  Our social enterprise, The Graduation Place (was Academic Dress Hire, Auckland), has played a pivotal role with 100% of proceeds used to fund the Foundation.  These proceeds are generated from the hireage and sale of graduation (academic) regalia and legal attire.  

It is educational success from funding educational potential and we couldn’t be prouder.  

We also receive funding from bequests, endowments and our very generous sponsorship partners who, just like us, understand the power of education.

Without assistance from the Kate Edger Foundation, many of our awardees would not have the chance to pursue further study – nor the opportunity to uplift themselves, their whanau and their communities. 

The Foundation is governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees, with General Manager Nina Tomaszyk managing both KEF and social enterprise The Graduation Place (TGP).