Kaupapa | Initiative
Creative HQ is a trailblazer in the innovation realm, spearheading the movement towards a better, smarter, and more creative public sector. Senior Innovation Specialist and Programme Director, Jonnie Haddon, has been leveraging government relations assistance to reach those who’ll benefit from the programmes most.

Wero | The Challenge
“We were doing some pretty cool and important work, but we weren’t getting the traction that we had hoped for. We decided that we needed to be a bit more strategic about communicating to our audience, and we also decided that it was important to have relationships at a high level.”
Te Āhua Mahi | Our Approach
Creative HQ was introduced to Holly at a Demo Day for another company, who made the recommendation. Shortly thereafter, a hui was held and things began to flow.
“Holly is an amazing resource. She makes herself available for any questions I have that pop up at work, and she helps us find out the answers to questions that we’re not entirely sure about asking, for example, she helps us figure out if it’s a good time of year to do x or y.”
Ngā Hua | The Outcome
A key example project that Awhi set up for Creative HQ was securing cross-party political presence at their GovTech Lightning Lab Programme and Demo Day.
“In particular, it was great to have Hon Kris Faafoi and Hon Grant Robertson checking out the Lightning Lab Accelerator programme.”
We also get lots of smaller tidbits of advice that are useful in helping us form our approaches. In terms of results, we’ve definitely increased our profile at the ministerial level, which was one of our initial key goals.