In the business world and her charity work, Theresa Gattung is a powerhouse, a woman who makes things happen. So, when her much-loved father John was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer, it was tough for Theresa to accept there was nothing she could do.
The very next day New Zealand went into its first national lockdown and, sitting in her favourite chair at her beach house in Waihi, Theresa was left with time to think. She might not be able to change things for her father, but was there more she could do to improve life for others?
“That whole period was a difficult time,” she recalls. “But throughout it, I was thinking about how I could make a really profound impact with my money, my time and my energies.”
Since her very first pay-check, Theresa, 60, has donated money to charities, and the former Telecom CEO has since played an active role in organisations that inspire and advance women and help animals – the two causes she is most passionate about.
Now she wanted to take things to the next level and create her own charitable foundation.
“I knew I couldn’t do it by myself,” she explains. “I burnt out in 2018 because I was doing too much, and besides, I don’t have all the necessary skills.”
“Giving money away actually helps it to come back,” says Theresa.
Theresa turned to her younger sister Angela, who with her background in education and charity work, was the ideal person to join forces with.
At first Angela, 58, turned her down. But as the pandemic progressed, Angela began to feel like it might be time for a change. And so, the Gattung Foundation was born.
Growing up in a family of four sisters in Rotorua, Angela recalls that Theresa always stood out. “She was a character. She followed her own sense of what she wanted to do. We all watched what Theresa did and how she did it.”
For instance, when their mother Marion, a seamstress, taught them sewing skills, teenager Angela was keen to make a little pocket money and learnt how to make puppets.
“Meanwhile, Theresa was sewing suits to wear,” she recalls. “While I was interested in the pocket money now, she was interested in the big money later.”
The Gattungs have always been a tight-knit family, but it wasn’t until they reached midlife that they both settled in the same city, Auckland. Now their sisterhood is powering the Gattung Foundation to achieve great things.
The pair are focusing on causes that touch them deeply – as they call it “the heart effect” – like animal welfare, and helping girls and women thrive. Projects that help reduce inequality, grow stronger families and tackle poverty are on their radar too.
Already they are supporting a range of organisations, sometimes with the donation of money and goods, others with time and expertise. Causes include Women’s Refuge, Good Bitches Baking and the Kindness Collective. And they are helping world champion paralympic swimmer Tupou Neiufi to tell her story in a documentary.
Until now, the Gattung Foundation has been working away quietly and Theresa has been funding it all herself.
“I’ve been really lucky through my business endeavours to create quite a lot of wealth, and I believe in sharing and giving back,” she shares.
The support of other people, particularly her family, has helped her create that wealth, she explains. Plus, Theresa has a different attitude to money.
“I think too many people, especially women, have a scarcity mentality around money. They think of it as a store of money that goes down. But money flows, it has energy and so spending it wisely, giving it away, actually helps it to come back to you. I know some people will think that’s wacky, but it’s worked for me.”
Now with its official launch, the foundation will be accepting donations.
The sisters are also aware that they will be inundated with applications for help and funding. Both are trying to make sure they don’t get overwhelmed with work.
Angela’s sixth grandchild is on the way and she wants to spend time with family. And Theresa, who is also involved with other projects here and internationally, wants to avoid experiencing burnout again.
“I’m better at setting boundaries now,” she says. “My morning ritual is to swim a kilometre and then have a sauna, and that sets me up for the day. I also spend quite a bit of time at the beach because it’s a relaxing environment. And I try to
be thoughtful about what I take on – I only do things that are joyful.”
Sadly, Theresa and Angela lost their father to bowel cancer. But his legacy will live on alongside theirs in the foundation that they hope will create ripples of change for the better in New Zealand for many years to come.
“We intend to do this for a very long time, perhaps for all our lives, and for it to involve the next generation of our family as well,” says Theresa.
For more information, go to gattungfoundation.nz
