Supporter opportunity to spark VP’s potential

Say Goodbye to Founder Syndrome: When, not if, Lane Merchandising Co. founder, Tessa Berger, reaches her $10 000 target tomorrow week, Mahurangi Action will be that much closer to having considerably younger hands on the tiller of the 40-year-old organisation—the current secretary dates from the society’s inaugural, 1974 committee. image Caitlin Owston-Doyle

Twenty-year-old Tessa Berger is Mahurangi Action’s best hope for the future.

And that is good news for the Mahurangi, if the society’s achievements to date can be considered ‘good for the Mahurangi’.

Major achievements include: causing Mahurangi Peninsula wastewater to discharged outside the harbour, rather than into it, at Dawsons Creek; reviving the Mahurangi Regatta; publishing Jade River: A History of the Mahurangi; protecting the public’s right to foreshore access at Jamieson Bay; helping to ensure that a five-year regional council kickstart for riparian protection became the became the long-term, holistic Mahurangi Action Plan; conducting the first-ever scientific trials advancing the use of forestry-style methods to slash the cost of raising indigenous plants, and persuading Auckland Regional Parks to consider a Mahurangi Coastal Trail.

The current secretary of Mahurangi Action was a founding committee member, 40 years ago, and for half that time was the youngest on the executive. This could well be taken as evidence of founder syndrome, but no one would be happier to be eased into a less pivotal role, which is where Tessa comes in, first serving an apprenticeship to the president, Temepara Morehu. But the speed at which Tessa progresses from vice-president is not to do with how quick she is on the uptake; she could already run the organisation with one hand tied behind her. The issue is that Tessa currently has both hands full with her business start-up. This hasn’t stopped her being actively involved since her election last November, particularly with the Warkworth sediment improvements pilot.

Tessa’s plan to save the planet is simple. First become a successful entrepreneur doing something she is passionate about: combining a keen sense of design with a passion for helping young people to build community. Second, become a twenty-something politician dedicated to eradicating child poverty and meaningful climate action. Those aware of her achievements to date have little doubt she will achieve both these goals. Tessa took a flair for football all the way from the Pūhoi sports grounds to ASB Bank young sportsperson of the year award, representing Aotearoa in the FIFA women’s world cup, and an athletic scholarship at Florida Gulf Coast University, while acing her academic milestones along the way—even in te reo Māori, she gives 35th-generation Temepara Morehu a run for his money. Mahurangi Action’s president and vice-president share bonds of being from the same close-knit community. Tessa starred alongside Temepara’s grandson Kia Ranea Morehu 10 years ago in a production in the Mahurangi West Hall, to raise money for its restoration. But the bonds go back to when Tessa’s German great-great-grandfather settled at Puhoi, when the generosity of chief Te Hemara Tauhia and his people was the only thing between the settlers and starvation.

Tessa’s start-up, Lane Merchandising Co., has come to the attention of the Spark Foundation’s online crowdfunding programme, whereby chosen projects and start-ups are put on the foundation’s crowdfunding platform, and contributions are sometimes matched dollar-dollar, by the foundation. Tessa’s mission is to roll out her merchandise to another five high schools, which should put the business on its feet. To do this will cost $10 000, none of which goes to pay herself. If supporters pledge a total of $5000, by tomorrow week, the Spark Foundation will match those donations. If, on the other hand, the pledges fall short, nobody’s credit cards are charged—it is the all-or-nothing approach that makes everyone a winner and nobody a loser. Progress is displayed on the Spark My Potential website—exciting for both supporter and supportee.

And none will be watching progress more keenly, and dreaming of his succession plan, than the writer.