Jo Nicholson

There is a moment Jo Nicholson returns to often. She was working in Whānau Ora when the work shifted - away from step-by-step instructions, toward kaimahi making real decisions alongside whānau. The discomfort in the room was palpable.

"They weren't resisting change because they didn't care. They were worried about making the wrong decision, being taken advantage of or letting someone down."

What she watched unfold became a conviction she has carried into everything since. "Most people don't need more instructions. They need enough trust to think, try, reflect and learn." And the question worth asking is never simply what was delivered - it is what changed because you were there.

That question now sits at the heart of Jo's work as Director of Social Value Aotearoa, where she connects organisations wrestling with how to understand and communicate what they actually contribute to the world. The sector, she believes, has a persistent habit of measuring what is easiest rather than what is most meaningful.

"Learning requires trust just as much as it requires data."

She learned something else in Whānau Ora that stayed with her - that relationships are not something you build once the work is done. "Very often, they are the work."

She brings that same instinct to how she opens conversations about social value. She does not start with frameworks. She starts by asking people what matters to them. "Once people reconnect with purpose, the reporting and measurement become much more meaningful because everyone understands why they matter."

The work she most wants people to notice is the kind that never makes headlines - the volunteer who remembers someone's name, the local programme that helps someone regain confidence, the organisation that prevents a crisis no one ever hears about. "Those things don't always make headlines, but they're building the kind of connected, resilient communities that sustainability ultimately depends on."

The seed she most wants to plant is simple. Stop asking whether you have the answer. Ask instead: "Who haven't we listened to yet?"

Read Jo Nicholson's answers to Blooming Sustainability's full questionnaire, including the resources that shaped her practice and the leaders she believes deserve a wider audience.

BLOOMING  Sustainability Questionnaire

Name: Jo Nicholson

Company & Title: Director, Social Value Aotearoa

Website & LinkedIn Profile: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/jo-nicholson-24915149

* Guiding Values | Kaupapa

If sustainability were a flower blooming in your life, what would it look like? What nurtures it?

I'd choose a sunflower.

Not because it's perfect, but because it keeps turning towards the light.

To me, sustainability isn't just about environmental responsibility. It's about choosing hope over cynicism and believing we can leave things a little better than we found them.

I also love that sunflowers are at their best together. A field of them is far more powerful than one standing alone. That's how I've come to think about change. It rarely happens because of one remarkable individual. It grows when ordinary people bring different strengths, keep learning and move in the same direction.

Curiosity, kindness and trust are probably the things that keep that sunflower growing.

A quote, personal motto or whakataukī that reflects your vision:  
I've carried one idea with me for a long time:

"Leadership is a verb, not necessarily a position."

The older I get, the more I notice leadership in unexpected places.

I see it in volunteers who quietly create belonging, in mothers finding the courage to take their next step, and in team members who ask thoughtful questions because they genuinely want to learn.

Titles matter far less than the environment we create for other people to grow.

If you could mentor a rising change-maker in Aotearoa, what advice would you share?  

Don't wait until you feel like an expert.

Some of the best opportunities in my own career arrived before I felt completely ready. Looking back, I'm grateful I said yes anyway.

I'd also encourage people to stay curious. It's easy to become attached to our own solutions, but some of the biggest breakthroughs happen when we're willing to admit we might be asking the wrong question.

Spend time listening to people whose experiences are different from your own. Communities have a remarkable way of keeping us grounded in what really matters.

* Leading Change | Arataki

A key moment in your journey that shaped your path:

One of the biggest turning points in my career came while working in Whānau Ora.

We were moving away from highly prescribed ways of working and asking kaimahi to make more decisions alongside whānau. I still remember how uncomfortable that felt for many people. They weren't resisting change because they didn't care. They were worried about making the wrong decision, being taken advantage of or letting someone down.

That experience taught me something I've never forgotten.

Most people don't need more instructions. They need enough trust to think, try, reflect and learn.

It also changed the question I ask. Instead of focusing on, "What did we deliver?" I became much more interested in asking, "What changed because we were here?"

That question still shapes how I lead today.

What’s the main challenge you face in driving sustainability within your sector?  
I think we're sometimes tempted to measure what's easiest rather than what's most meaningful.

Evidence matters, but its purpose isn't simply to satisfy reporting requirements. Good evidence should help us learn, improve and make better decisions.

The challenge is creating cultures where people feel safe enough to reflect honestly on what's working, what isn't and what we might do differently next time.

Learning requires trust just as much as it requires data.

An area you need more support with:  
I'd love to see stronger bridges between sectors.

Community organisations, business, government, iwi and philanthropy all see different parts of the same picture. When we stay in our own lanes, we miss opportunities to learn from one another.

The challenges we're facing are too interconnected for any one group to solve alone.

I'd love to see more spaces where curiosity is valued more highly than certainty.

An Indigenous perspective you admire and want people to be mindful of:

Working within Whānau Ora broadened my understanding of what wellbeing really means.

It reminded me that people don't experience life as separate issues. Our wellbeing is shaped by relationships, whānau, identity, culture and connection to place.

I'm still learning, but one lesson has stayed with me.

Relationships aren't something we build after the work is done.

Very often, they are the work.

Your best approach for engaging stakeholders in meaningful dialogue about ESG:

I rarely start with ESG.

I start by asking people what matters to them.

Who are they hoping to create value for?

What would success genuinely look like?

What kind of legacy would they like to leave?

Those conversations are far more engaging than starting with frameworks. Once people reconnect with purpose, the reporting and measurement become much more meaningful because everyone understands why they matter.

What do you think is Aotearoa’s superpower in creating a sustainable future?

I think our greatest strength is our ability to collaborate.

We're small enough that it's still possible to bring together community wisdom, indigenous knowledge, research, business and government around the same table.

When we're at our best, we don't ask whose idea it was.

We ask what's possible when we work together.

 * Surfing the Green Wave | Kakariki

Books, podcasts, courses or other resources that profoundly shaped your approach to sustainability:

Jeremy Nicholls' The Accounting Paradox certainly challenged my thinking. Coming from a community development background rather than an accounting one, I found myself rereading parts of it more than once. It encouraged me to think much more deeply about how we define value and success.

I've also learned an enormous amount through people rather than publications.

Being part of Social Value Aotearoa, serving on the Social Value International Board and attending the OECD World Forum on Wellbeing have all reinforced something I've come to appreciate: while our contexts differ, many of us are wrestling with the same questions. How do we create value? How do we know we're making a difference? And how do we keep learning?

Events in Aotearoa or globally that you think are must-attend:

The events I've valued most haven't necessarily been the ones with the biggest names.

They've been the ones where people were willing to share what hadn't worked as well as what had.

I've found that through Social Value Aotearoa, Social Value International and the OECD World Forum. 

Those conversations remind me that learning is a collective endeavour, and that Aotearoa has an important voice to contribute internationally.

A sustainable initiative or project in Aotearoa that deserves more attention:

I'd love to see more recognition of the quiet work happening every day in communities across Aotearoa.

It's the volunteer who remembers someone's name.

The neighbour who checks in.

The local programme that helps someone regain confidence.

The organisation that prevents a crisis no one ever hears about.

Those things don't always make headlines, but they're building the kind of connected, resilient communities that sustainability ultimately depends on.

If your work could plant one seed of change for the future, what would it be?

I'd love more organisations to replace certainty with curiosity.

Instead of asking, "Have we got the answer?" Ask, "Who haven't we listened to yet?"

I've learned that people are remarkably capable when they're trusted to contribute.

Sometimes the biggest shift doesn't come from a new strategy.

It comes from creating the conditions where people feel safe enough to think differently.

The leader(s) you endorse for a future edition of Blooming Sustainability:

I'd enjoy hearing from leaders who are helping us rethink what value looks like from different perspectives.

Jeremy Nicholls, Ben Carpenter, Stephanie Robertson and Awerangi Tamihere would each bring something unique to that conversation.

 * One actionable takeaway for our readers to make a change today for a brighter tomorrow:
The next time someone brings you an idea, resist the temptation to improve it straight away.

Instead, ask one more question.

Listen a little longer.

See where their thinking takes them.

You might discover that the most sustainable form of leadership isn't having the best answers - it's creating the confidence for others to find their own.

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