Half-Year in Review: Celebrating Growth, Grit, and Gratitude with ECG

At the halfway mark of 2025, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the road travelled so far—one paved with partnership, purpose, and positive impact. 

The economic climate has been anything but predictable. Businesses across Aotearoa New Zealand are navigating the delicate balance between ambition and caution, faced with tightening budgets, shifting public sector priorities, and rising expectations for measurable impact. For ECG, these challenges have not slowed us down—they’ve sharpened our focus. 

This season has been about strategic adaptation. 

We’ve supported businesses to refocus their strategy, tighten their operations, and build financial resilience. Through the Pacific Business Village Initiative, we have empowered and enabled over 60 Pacific businesses to improve productivity and diversify their revenue streams.  Our Elevate Sustainable Business Sessions have resonated with businesses and entrepreneurs as they provide practical and useful insights, from strategic planning and digital marketing  to approaches to sustainable growth and continuity planning. We have received 100% positive feedback from participants at our events. 

"What ECG is building is next level—more than numbers, it’s data that drives better decisions. Grateful to speak in a room where real change happens. Let’s keep building, stay in the room, and keep doing cool, purposeful work.”

— Apulu Alo Ali’itea TJay Asiata, Elevate Sustainable Business – Session 4

ECG is practising what it preaches with our own diverse work portfolio.  We have delivered bespoke leadership workshops for corporates such as Coca-Cola, undertaken strategic policy reviews for governance boards, and completed an evaluation of a national programme for the Ministry for Social Development and Tertiary Education Commission. Our inclusion on the All-of-Government Creative and Media Panel and approval as a MERL List Supplier for NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, reinforces our position in the market as a high performance, industry proven and culturally intelligent consultancy. 

“I’ve seen many presenters over the years, but the care Sara-Jane, Ralph and Sabrina showed today created instant safety in the room. Their genuine gratitude, space for audience voice, and thoughtful reflections made it something truly special.”

— MK, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners

"Your contributions not only helped sharpen our strategic direction but also energized the team. We truly appreciate your expertise and the collaborative spirit you brought to the process."

— ST, Whau Pasifika Trust

Being fiscally prudent. 

Yes the economy has slowed and the last 6 months has seen new shifts in public policy and programmes.  But this has allowed us to be more disciplined with our cost management and sharper with our strategic decision making. This season reminds us of the critical importance of cash reserves, lean operations, and resilience as a mindset and action through the way we work. 

We’ve also expanded our digital footprint. 

In April, we officially launched ECG’s Facebook page, joining our active LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube platforms. The results have been phenomenal:

👀 18.3K viewers reached

🤝 2,082 followers across platforms

📣 26 engagements/events delivered across Aotearoa

📲 Featured insights blogs such as “When the Village Leads” and “Elevate Business”

We are deeply grateful to every follower, commenter, and collaborator who’s helped amplify our message of culturally centred impact. If you’re not yet connected — now is the time! Follow us for strategic insights, stories of success, and thought leadership rooted in excellence, innovation and respect. 

What’s Next? 

As we step into the second half of 2025, we’re reminded: in uncertain times, purpose is a powerful compass. ECG remains steadfast in our mission — connecting the dots through Strategy, Engagement and Evaluation.

We have just released our dashboard, the ECG Pulse, our new 6 month heart beat monitor that shows our project performance, team capability and client satisfaction. Strategy Vitality, Engagement Pulse, Evaluation Health, Innovation BPM and Client Satisfaction Reviews are our indicators of progress to date.

If you're planning new initiatives or need to refresh your organisation's direction, ECG is ready to partner with you. We offer proven capability in:

✅ Strategic design and facilitation

✅ Workforce and leadership development

✅ Culturally responsive evaluation and reporting

✅ Community-led programme delivery

To our clients, collaborators, and community: thank you. Your trust and belief in ECG’s positive footprint makes this journey meaningful. We’re not just a consulting service provider—we’re a trusted strategic partner committed to delivering real-world results with cultural depth and excellence.

Let’s reconnect. Let’s refocus. Let’s continue to build resilience, celebrate the wins and move forward with purpose.

The ECG Team