Trustee Focus

Ken Williamson - Partner, Crombie Lockwood

Ken Williamson is well known in Hamilton for his dedication to our community.  During the last 30 years he and his wife Julie have given their time and expertise to numerous organisations in the city.  Five years ago, Ken joined the University of Waikato Foundation. “The financial wealth that the university brings to the city and region is around a billion dollars year, making it critically vital to the city and region’s financial wellbeing,” says Ken. “And arguably even more importantly, there’s the intellectual wealth that is created which benefits us all. Yet many people fail to embrace or even recognise this wonderful asset.  I saw a need to change that and that was one of the reasons I came on board.”

The University of Waikato Foundation is an independent charitable trust that supports and resources the University of Waikato.  It raises funds in New Zealand and overseas through donations, bequests, endowments and sponsorships for scholarships and prizes, research and new initiatives, including capital projects.

Ken believes that for the Foundation to be even more effective there should be a much closer relationship between the University and the rest of the region’s population.  “I know it takes time to establish strong relationships, but we need to make Waikato University ‘our’ university, appreciate what it brings to the city and region and encourage and make people more comfortable about coming to events on campus.”

Ken says that many people presently come to Balloons over Waikato and concerts in the Academy of Performing Arts, and we need them to further embrace the University’s fanatstic campus and the opportunities it offers. “It’s not intimidating as some people think but we need to make sure people feel welcome.” He thinks there are lots of opportunities for partnerships with local organisations to share resources and facilities and that’s something he’s promoting amongst the other trustees on the Foundation.

Ken’s background is insurance.  He works for insurance brokers Crombie Lockwood after he and his partners sold their Hamilton based commercial insurance brokerage Law Mooney Williamson four years ago.  He came to Hamilton from Auckland when he was 24 – he’s now 58 – intending to work in photography, but instead he got an insurance job and has stayed in the industry ever since.

When he thought he and Julie couldn’t have children, they decided to adopt some community causes.  “And just like taking on a child, you can’t unadopt!”  However, sixteen years ago Julie and Ken had a daughter, Kate.  “Kate has blessed and enriched our lives beyond any words. She is a kind, caring, loving young woman and we are incredibly proud of her.” She is now in Year 12 at Waikato Diocesan School and Ken would love to see her attend the University’s faculty of Education (“the finest Education School in Australasia”) once she leaves Dio.

This year Ken is stepping down from the McKenzie Centre Trust (helping children under six with special needs) after 16 years and the Waikato Bay of Plenty ‘Magic’ netball franchise which he’s served nine.  “I came into both these organisations when they were struggling and along with some fantastic people we’ve turned them round. I think that’s one of my strengths, in helping to create sustainability and growth. The McKenzie Centre Trust is on a firm financial footing, and is suberbly governed and managed, whilst the Magic are the most successful netball team in the country; I feel it’s now time for some new blood.”

He believes people should take ownership of their communities. “I’m passionate about that. Often it’s simply about empowering people to take control of their own lives.”  Ken chairs the Te Rau Aroha Papakinga Trust (part of Te Whakaruruhau Maori Women’s Refuge) and is cheered when he sees women learning how to take better care of themselves, their children and their futures. They have just commenced construction of the first purpose-built refuge in New Zealand.  He is humbled by the incredible commitment and love shown by the Refuge team.

He chaired the Scottwood and Castle Trusts, which merged with the Perry Foundation and then merged with the Lion Foundation where he remains a trustee. He was a founding trustee of the MS Waikato Trust and is on the Waikato Committee of the New Zealand Institute of Directors (last year he became one of the first directors to receive 'Accredited’ status under the IOD’s new protocols);  he is a Justice of the Peace; an Officer in the Order of St John and a Trustee of St John’s Central Region & Ambulance Service (the North Island south of Auckland); and a trustee of the Proprietors Board of Waikato Diocesan School for Girls. He is a director of the Rezlab Group, partly owned by the Runanga. He is also a director in several property companies. In the 2009 New Year’s Honour’s List, he was awarded a Queens Service Medal for services to the community.

For the last four years Ken’s been business mentoring groups of Year 13 students at Waikato Diocesan School in the ‘Young Enterprise Scheme’.  He says all of his teams have done extraordinary well in the YES programme, with the 2010 team ‘Forever Young’ winning a number of awards including the Regional award for Best Business ahead of 50 other secondary school entries. “I’m always talking up Waikato University to the young ladies I mentor.  Sadly, many of my students want to leave home and study elsewhere, but I do my best to convince them of the benefits of remaining in Hamilton and studying close to home.  The quality of education at the University of Waikato is as good as anywhere, and in many cases better.”

Ken believes in Churchill’s statement: “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give”. Ken says: “My life has been incredibly enriched by the friendships I have made in the organisations I have been involved in.”

To find out more regarding fundraising activities at the University of Waikato, visit the Foundation website here.