Emily Broadmore Emily Broadmore

We’re adding some more Heft! 

Heft is proud to announce the appointment of Sarah Johnson as ournew General Manager.   

Sarah steps into this leadership role with a mandate to drive Heft's continued growth, strengthen its position as a bold and strategic industry leader, and expand the firm's influence across New Zealand's communications landscape.

Read More
Emily Broadmore Emily Broadmore

The high cost of ‘AI hesitation’

Companies must increase their productivity by ensuring both they and their consultants and service providers are all embracing AI for the easier work, says Emily Makere Broadmore in this opinion editorial for The Post.

Read More
Emily Broadmore Emily Broadmore

Our AI philosophy

We use AI to supercharge ideas, not create them. Think of it as a powerful implementation tool that comes after strategy, not before. This approach naturally protects client information because we're not feeding existing content into AI systems - we're using AI to help articulate and implement our strategic thinking.

Read More
Anna-Grace Somerfield Anna-Grace Somerfield

Come on down to Queenstown – just don’t use the loo

Op-ed by Victoria Crockford published by The Spinoff, 3 February 2025.

Each of the government’s various economic growth policy announcements asks something, in some way, of Queenstown. But it may not have the answer the government – and the rest of the country – wants, writes Victoria Crockford.

Read More
Anna-Grace Somerfield Anna-Grace Somerfield

The Boost: December 2024 Edition

Check out Heft’s bi-monthly newsletter, The Boost.

The professional landscape in consulting and communications has evolved drastically over the past twelve months, and as Heft has evolved with it our two Directors have also been shaking things up in the literary and social sectors. In this issue of The Boost we discuss market changes, celebrate wins and highlight key dates and events for our Heft community.

Read More
Anna-Grace Somerfield Anna-Grace Somerfield

Not even the sky for shelter

Published by the Otago Daily Times, 7 December 2024

A landmark New Zealand report into homelessness among women has been published. And it is horrifying, writes Kate Oktay.

Half the homeless population in New Zealand are women, indeed 50,000 women in Aotearoa define themselves as homeless.

"For too long, this has been an invisible issue," says Vic Crockford, director of the Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness, the organisation behind new research that reveals the scale of the problem.

"Understandably, people often think of men when they think of people experiencing homelessness, as we are often more likely to see a single man sleeping rough. In other countries that may be right, but not in New Zealand. In Aotearoa, it is half of the story.”

Read More
Anna-Grace Somerfield Anna-Grace Somerfield

New study details harrowing experiences of homeless women

Interview with Victoria Crockford on RNZ, Nine to Noon, 6 December 2024.

A new report has found some homeless women find it safer to sleep on the streets than at a shelter.

The study outlines harrowing experiences of violence and abuse in emergency and transitional housing, as well as more broad inequities women face in the housing system.

A group of sector leaders were prompted to commission the research after seeing firsthand that support is largely designed with men in mind.

Vic Crockford is the former chief executive of Community Housing Aotearoa, and leads the Coalition to end Women's Homelessness.

Read More
Anna-Grace Somerfield Anna-Grace Somerfield

Interview with Jesse Mulligan on death to the echo chamber

Interview on RNZ Afternoons, 5 December 2024

There's lots of talk around finding unity around at the moment ... various politicians here and around the world are promising to bring people together.

But it seems like it's not really happening, in fact if any anything, it feels like the political divide between left and right is getting worse. An opinion piece in the Sunday Star Times just this weekend examined 

Titled Ending the echo chamber: How to find where left and right unite - was written by Emily Makere Broadmore. 

And Emily some interesting observations about why the left and right don't talk to each other anymore. 

Read More
Anna-Grace Somerfield Anna-Grace Somerfield

‘Unhoused, unsafe’: Shining a light on NZ’s 57,000 homeless women

Published by The Post, 5 December 2024.

Women make up more than half of Aotearoa’s homeless population but there are no national policies or frameworks specifically aimed at women who are unhoused.

The housing system was “effectively flying gender blind”, which led to a new report by the Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness, launched on Thursday.

“The world we currently live in is one where too many of our women are unhoused, unnoticed, and unsafe,” according to the report Ngā Ara ki te Kāinga – Understanding Barriers and Solutions to Women's Homelessness in Aotearoa, commissioned by the coalition.

Read More