Keystone Trust announces 2021 scholarship recipients
Kerin Russell-Smith, Director, Russell Group and Keystone Trust trustee, and her team with their 2021 Key Partner Scholarship recipient, Kito Tamanui-Fransen, (3rd from left) who is studying a Bachelor of Construction at Unitec.
The TSA management team with their current and past recipients. From left: Anna Hitchcock (Key Partner Scholarship recipient 2020), 4th from left, Cynthia Yuan (Keystone Study Awards recipient 2009), centre, Harrison Gosling (2021 TSA scholarship recipient), 3rd from right, Corinna Gibbons-Hurinui (Study Awards recipient 2000), 2nd from right, Sarah Moore (2018 Key Partner Scholarship recipient). Cynthia, Corinna and Sarah are all employees of the TSA team.
Dorota Samorrow, 2017 Fletchers Key Partner Scholarship recipient and project manager with European Stone Masons with Naomi Mabvurira 2016 Study Award recipient and cadet with Hawkins.
After five weeks of intense shortlisting and in-person and Zoom interviews, Keystone Trust introduced its successful 2021 scholarship recipients at the Trust’s 26th annual Awards Evening, held at Auckland’s Okahu Bay on 22 October.
2020 put a new spin on how to recruit scholarship applicants from secondary and tertiary institutions, with these being shut due to COVID-19. However, with an online campaign, ongoing close contact with careers advisors, and networking with Māori and Pasifika organisations, the Keystone Trust saw school-leaver Study Award applications grow by 22 per cent and tertiary student Keystone Scholarship Partner applications by 30 per cent on last year.
Keystone Trust has offered scholarships to young people with financial and circumstantial needs who have a passion for studying towards a professional career in the property/construction and infrastructure sectors for the past 26 years. This year, the Trust received 118 applications from as far north as Kaitaia College and as far south as King’s College, Dunedin, which were then whittled down to 22 interviews and the 11 confirmed scholarships. Study Award students receive a scholarship of $15,000 paid over three years, access to a buddy and mentor, workshops, site visits, industry networking, advice and support and events.
Nine Key Partner Scholarships are available to tertiary students, usually in their penultimate year or later, and are for one year. This year, the Trust received more than 250 applications, with each successful recipient given a $5000 scholarship, work experience with their sponsor, a mentor, site visits and access to the Keystone network.
Amanda Stanes, General Manager of Keystone Trust, says the Trust is conscious of bringing diverse talent into the sectors. “Our students truly represent New Zealand’s broad diversity of cultures and ethnicities,” she says. “We’re seeing a growing number of Iraqi, Syrian, Pasifika, Chinese, Korean and Thai in the mix with Māori and Pakeha. We don’t have quotas, however, the selection committee works to ensure a breadth of diversity as well as a broad range of study options. And a lot of applicants want to be architects.”
There are currently about 170 Keystone Trust alumni working in New Zealand and globally. “The Trust is the only charity dedicated to building the capability and capacity of leadership in the property/construction/infrastructure sector,” says Stanes.
As an integral component of the broader outcomes/shared value and social procurement process, Stanes says the Trust ensures its 37 sponsors are able to respond favourably in tender processes to questions around delivering on cultural, social and economic broader outcomes.
Keystone Trust will be supporting 50 students in 2021, studying a range of degrees from architecture, law, engineering, construction and project management, quantity surveying, property management/development/finance at seven tertiary institutions around the country.
2021 Study Awards
- Ānaru Neilsford-Jones, Mount Maunganui College – Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), University of Canterbury
- Andrew Lee, Rangitoto College – Bachelor of Engineering conjoint with a Bachelor of Design, University of Auckland
- Cailey Coles, Tararua College – Bachelor of Design, Massey University
- Christina Lieu, Avondale College – Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), University of Auckland
- James McSweeney, St Bede’s College – Bachelor of Land and Property Management, Lincoln University
- Jerome Tupuola, Dilworth School – Bachelor of Urban Planning, University of Auckland
- Makana Uele, Tangaroa College – Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), AUT
- Rami Koria, James Cook High School – Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), AUT
- Reif Mayo, Napier Boys’ High School – Bachelor of Surveying, University of Otago
- Stella Bacci-Rowe, Golden Bay High School – Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), University of Canterbury
- Tiaki Rhodes, St Pauls Collegiate – Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), University of Canterbury
2021 Key Partner Scholarships
- 2021 C3 Construction Scholarship: Allen Cruz – Bachelor of Construction, Massey University
- 2021 Kiwi Property Scholarship: Skylah Hewett – Bachelor of Property & Bachelor of Law, University of Auckland
- 2021 Bayleys Property Scholarship: Connor Parker – Bachelor of Property, University of Auckland
- 2021 Barnes Beagley Doherr Quantity Surveying Scholarship: David Kim – Bachelor of Construction, Unitec
- 2021 Hawkins Scholarship: Sione Telefoni – Bachelor of Construction, Massey University
- 2021 Miles Construction Scholarship: Stanley Foster-Bohm – Bachelor of Construction, Massey University
- 2021 Property Institute Scholarship: Shania Mika-Tamihana – Bachelor Business majoring in Property, Massey University
- 2021 Alf Russell Property and Construction Scholarship: Te Kitohi Tamanui-Fransen – Bachelor of Construction, Unitec
- 2021 TSA Management Scholarship: Harrison Gosling – Bachelor of Construction, Massey University
- 2021 Waide Construction Scholarship: Louise Bremner – Bachelor of Construction, Massey University
Learn more about all the award recipients at keystonetrust.org.nz.
