ActionStation

• Business / Trading Name: ActionStation Aotearoa Limited, trading as “ActionStation”. (The sole shareholder is ActionStation Aotearoa Incorporated, an affiliated incorporated society.)

• Company Number: 3730547

• NZBN: 9429030784680

• Entity Type: New Zealand Limited Company (non-profit, limited by shares)

• Business Classification: ANZSIC code S955980 – “Society operation (for the promotion of community or sectional interest) n.e.c.”

• Industry Category: Civic and social organizations (community campaigning and advocacy)

• Year Founded: 2012 (incorporated 20 Feb 2012) – first public campaign launched July 2014

• Addresses:

• Registered & Physical Office: Level 4, Ranchhod House, 39 Webb Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

• Postal: PO Box 19069, Wellington 6141, New Zealand

• Website URL:

https://actionstation.org.nz

• LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/company/actionstation

• Company Hub NZ URL: https://www.companyhub.nz/companyDetails.cfm?nzbn=9429030784680

(Action Station Aotearoa Ltd profile)

• NZ Companies Office URL: https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/3730547 (New Zealand Companies Office)

• Social Media URLs: Twitter/X – @actionstation; Facebook – facebook.com/ActionStationNZ ; Instagram – instagram.com/actionstationnz; Medium – medium.com/@ActionStation.

• Ultimate Holding Company: ActionStation Aotearoa Incorporated (holds 100% of shares in the company)

• Key Shareholders: ActionStation Aotearoa Incorporated – sole shareholder (1 share) (No other shareholders; the company is wholly owned by the membership-based society.)

• Leadership: Governance by a volunteer Board of 8 (Co-Chairs Herman Visagie and [another Co-Chair not named on site], plus members such as Garth Nowland-Foreman, Ta’ase Vaoga, Wendy Reid, Daniel Haines, Vim Jobanputra, Elina Ashimbayeva, Sara Fraser). Day-to-day leadership by Kassie (Katherine) Hartendorp – Director (chief executive). Co-founders include Marianne Elliott and Megan Salole.

• Staff: Approximately a dozen core staff (mix of full-time and part-time). Roles include Campaigns Manager (Ella Grace Newton), Lead Community Organiser (Ruby Powell), multiple Campaigners (e.g. Max Harris, Vanessa Cole), Community Organiser (Vera K-T), Operations Manager (Nikky Winchester), Tech Lead (Joe Salmon), etc. (Staff size in 2023 is in the range of 11–15 employees).

• Staff With Previous Government Roles: Garth Nowland-Foreman – former Cabinet Minister’s office staff and government policy unit manager (Australia) ; Max Harris – former political advisor in New Zealand. (Several board/staff have sat on government advisory bodies or moved into public sector roles. Co-founder Marianne Elliott worked as a Human Rights Commission advisor and in a UN mission for governments.)

• Past Employees: Laura O’Connell Rapira – founding team member (Campaign Director, later Executive Director 2014–2020) ; Marianne Elliott – co-founder and National Co-Director (2014–2018) ; Megan Salole – co-founder and initial Executive Director (2012–2014) ; Ryan Mearns – Campaigns Co-Director (2017).

• Clients / Members: Data Not Found. (ActionStation is a member-based advocacy group, not a consultancy representing clients.)

• Industries / Sectors Represented: N/A. (Represents public interest causes across multiple sectors – e.g. social justice, environmental protection, human rights, Te Tiriti o Waitangi advocacy – rather than specific industry clients.)

• Publicly Disclosed Engagements: Registered as a Third-Party Promoter with the NZ Electoral Commission for the 2023 election (spent >$15,700 on political advertising). Regular submissions to Parliamentary Select Committees (e.g. oral submissions on environmental bills and the “Treaty Principles Bill”). Delivered open letters and petitions to Ministers (e.g. Trade Minister David Parker accepted ActionStation’s open letter on the TPPA-11 in 2017).

• Affiliations: Part of the OPEN network – an international alliance of progressive digital campaigning organisations (shares strategy with groups like GetUp (AUS), 38 Degrees (UK), Campact (DE)). Collaborates with dozens of NZ NGOs, unions and community groups on campaigns – e.g. Amnesty International NZ, Greenpeace NZ, Generation Zero, NZ Council of Trade Unions, Child Poverty Action Group, JustSpeak, 350 Aotearoa, etc. Long-term supporter of the Greens’ “RockEnrol” youth voting initiative (co-founded by ActionStation staff).

• Sponsorships / Collaborations: Received pro bono or sponsored services from tech companies (e.g. Bugsnag, Contentful for IT infrastructure). Funding and collaboration with philanthropic trusts (see funding below) and partnerships on specific projects (e.g. Netsafe and Royal Society funded an online anti-racism initiative). Frequent joint campaigns with allied advocacy groups (e.g. It’s Our Future on trade justice, Oxfam/Greenpeace on climate, union campaigns on workers’ rights).

• Events (Organised by Organisation): Hosts community forums and campaign events (e.g. pre-election candidate forums, “People’s Agenda” assemblies for crowdsourced policy vision). Organised rallies and protests in coordination with partners (e.g. anti-TPP rallies, climate marches, “Together For Te Tiriti” events). Convened the “People’s Mental Health Review” public meetings in 2017 (leading to an independent report).

• Political Donations: Data Not Found. (No record of direct donations by ActionStation to political parties. As a practice, it focuses on issue advocacy and does not donate to candidates or parties.)

• Controversies: Accused by political opponents of partisan bias – e.g. in 2017 Health Minister Jonathan Coleman dismissed ActionStation’s mental health report authors as “left-wing anti-government protesters”. The NZ Taxpayers’ Union criticized ActionStation for receiving a $15,000 government-funded Netsafe grant, calling it a breach of claimed independence and labelling the group “left-wing lobbyists”. Some right-wing commentators have alleged “foreign funding” influence due to grants from overseas philanthropies (like Omidyar Network) and questioned its grassroots image. ActionStation’s campaigns (e.g. anti-racism volunteer initiative “Tauiwi Tautoko”) have occasionally drawn fire from free-speech advocates, though the organisation defends these as promoting civility, not censorship.

• Other Information of Note: Operates a separate community petition platform “OurActionStation” to empower members’ own campaigns. It deliberately chose not to register as a charity, citing international examples of governments targeting charitable advocacy groups – instead embedding non-profit aims in its constitution for protection. Initially incorporated in 2012 under the name “StandUp Limited” (changed to ActionStation Aotearoa Ltd in 2012). Reports a supporter base of over 200,000 members (as of 2020) and over 500,000 campaign sign-ups by 2023.

• Recipient of Wage Subsidy Scheme: Data Not Found. (No public record identified of ActionStation receiving COVID-19 wage subsidies. The organisation did campaign for fair wage-subsidy use by employers, but its own uptake of the scheme, if any, was not disclosed in available sources.)

Spot anything in this entry that is wrong? Please either leave a comment at the end or email, in confidence: bryce@democracyproject.nz