How we work

We are independent

ActionStation is independent from any political party, corporate or government influence. Our allegiance is to our issues, our values, and most of all our community.

We are grassroots

ActionStation is of the people, by the people and for the people. Our power and legitimacy comes from the collective action of regular people. We operate on an “outside power theory of change”, because our members are outside the power structure. We don’t depend on being invited in by decision-makers. This approach puts power where it should be: the hands of regular people.

We are nimble

We are a small team who moves fast when we need to, for long term change. This means we work in a low bureaucracy environment and we know that done is better than perfect. We have the courage to listen, learn, try – and fail or succeed – try again. We lead from curiosity and openness, rather than having all the answers.

We are multi-issue

We are one of the only campaigning organisations that is multi-issue. We commit to be “movement generous”, we depend on partners and we love to collaborate.

We use digital tools, but are not an “online organisation”

We are a campaigning community that uses digital tools. Technology is a critical tool (this means we invest in it). But tech is only a tool. We judge tech based on impact.

We build power

Our campaigns are not only designed to get political results, they also build confidence, agency and power in everyday people to take action on the issues they care about and help create the change they want to see in our country. Every campaign strategy must meet one key criteria: how does this build sustained power and capacity in our communities? We do this by training people to become campaign leaders on issues that affect them, their whānau and their communities. In this way we can scale up the capacity and potential for positive change in this country.

We listen deeply

All of our work is built on a foundation of radical listening - our staff team spends many hours every week listening to everyday people in our country, learning what they care about, why they care, and what they want to see happen in our country.