About Us
I Love Avondale is a community development project that aims to show and grow the good in our hood. We have four main strands of mahi, which are all interwoven: Kai Avondale, Eastdale Hub, Storytelling and Whanaungatanga.
Our approach is to listen, observe and learn from our community. This helps us identify people’s needs or aspirations, what our collective strengths are and where the energy for action is.
At the heart of all our work is relationship building and collaboration. Sometimes we lead or co-lead the delivery of an initiative, sometimes we actively support work led by others and other times we connect people together or share our knowledge and leave them to do their mahi.
To us, showing and growing the good in our hood means celebrating our people and places, keeping our community informed and connected, and providing opportunities for locals to have their needs met or aspirations realised.
Our Roots
I Love Avondale began in 2014 as a social media project founded by Dayne Smith, whose family roots in the Auckland suburb go back to 1960. Fed up by most media only covering Avondale when there was crime or controversy, he wanted to shine a light on the positive things happening, including capturing and celebrating the people, places and culture of the neighbourhood.
Around the same time, resident-led trust Avondale Community Action (ACA) was exploring the benefits of having dedicated, paid community workers operating at the grassroots. The thinking was that they could help identify and address some of the opportunities or challenges in an area rich in culture, but hampered by disconnectedness within the community and issues associated with high levels of social deprivation. In late-2016, in partnership with TYLA Trust, ACA was able to realise that ambition by securing three years funding from the Department of Internal Affairs.
From 2017 onwards, I Love Avondale was no longer just a social media platform, but a broader community development project that fosters connectivity, belonging and action both online and on the ground.
Since 2020, I Love Avondale has been funded by Lottery Community, Foundation North and The Trusts Community Foundation. Ongoing, project-specific financial support is also received from the Whau Local Board and The Frameless Glass Company. In addition, many local businesses, community organisations and residents donate their time, money and other resources.
Our Team
-
Jaclyn Bonnici
I Love Avondale Executive Director
Jaclyn has worked closely with/for/as I Love Avondale since 2016, primarily behind- the-scenes whilst raising her two young daughters. She was honoured to take up this strategic, guiding role in early 2022. With a BA in Sociology and an MA in Development Studies, Jaclyn has longstanding academic and activist interests in urban diversity and inequality, human rights and intersectionality. With deep respect for the mahi of each I Love Avondale team member, she is dedicated to supporting their unique and complementary approaches to showing and growing the good in our hood.
Email: kiaora@iloveavondale.co.nz
-
Anne Riley
Kai Avondale Coordinator
Anne was born and raised in Avondale and although has lived in other parts of Auckland, has always considered Avondale home. Prior to Kai Avondale, Anne managed the West Auckland Toy Library in Green Bay for over 20 years. She is a mother to Sophie and has been married to Michael for almost 30 years. She is a trustee and secretary of the Portage Ceramics Trust and has been active on the boards of a number of other local non-profit organisations. Anne also studied Business Management at Massey University.
-
Dayne Smith
Founder/Trustee/Storytelling Coordinator
Dayne is originally from Avondale but grew up in Taranaki before returning in 2001. Of mixed Samoan, Cook Island and European heritage, he founded I Love Avondale in 2014 and helped grow it into the community development project it is today. Dayne was our Project Lead until late-2021 when he became a full-time Community Development Manager with Kāinga Ora. Now he holds a part-time role with I Love Avondale coordinating the Storytelling strand of our mahi and is a volunteer trustee. Dayne has a BA from the University of Auckland and is a dad of three.
-
Amber Puku
Māori Engagement Lead
Of Te Rarawa and Ngāpuhi descent, Amber spent much of her childhood in Avondale and brings a strong understanding of Te Ao Māori to our project. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Te Reo Māori and tikanga, and has experience teaching Te Tiriti o Waitangi and decolonising methodologies at the University of Waikato. She is passionate about helping Māori communities and lives on a papakāinga with her whānau in West Auckland.
-
Ara Alam-Simmons
Diversity Engagement Lead
Originally from the UK, Ara is of South Asian heritage and has called West Auckland home for some years now. She has a strong background in education and positive psychology, and recently worked with Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono to help support the setup of constellations/hubs that bring diverse communities together to work on a common goal.
-
Sue Thirkettle
Administrator
Sue has lived in Avondale since 1986, working cross culturally for 33 years in shared accomodation and now on the Avondale mainstreet with Haven Foundation. She is a trained bookkeeper and holds a Graduate Diploma in Not for Profit Management and a BA from the University of Canterbury. Sue also works for Restorative Justice Waitakere and sits on the boards of Haven Foundation, Parent Aid Central West and Avondale Community Action, which she helped establish in 2012.
-
Regular Contributors
Katy Galo - Social Media
Ahutoa Lanefale - Graphic Designer
Nia Vavao - Storyteller
Matthew Lewis - Great North Gallery Photographer
-
Kai Avondale Kaitiaki
Josephine Maireroa
Amelia Carter
Melissa Yalomatua
Natalia Mamea
Royden Redman
Stacey Lee
Steph Playfair
Cilla Lurch
Dayne Smith
Sue Thirkettle
