Tribute to Raewyn Good
It is with profound sadness and an enormous sense of loss that we record the unexpected death of Raewyn Good.
Raewyn worked for the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) as a Principal Analyst, and did a huge amount of work for the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Committee (SPEaR). She represented MSD at the University of Canterbury Centre for Social Science Research (SSRC) among many other things.
Raewyn was the quintessential un-bureaucratic bureaucrat, an exceptional and effective networker. She wove connections within and between community, social science and official policy. A key to this, along with her extensive personal network, was a knowledge society approach that looked for innovative policy development methodologies that could overcome policy silos by connecting across boundaries, sectors and countries.
She had the rare ability to identify and support innovative connecting concepts and innovative connecting people.
Raewyn's academic background was in social anthropology and public policy. She was an acute observer. She took time to learn te reo Maori; lived and related well to people from diverse cultures especially Samoans and new settlers - those recently arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand. She had enormous empathy, particularly with women who had suffered in abusive relationships.
She made constant efforts to ensure the rich but often unheard voices of diverse communities were heard and taken seriously at policy levels and in publications.
Many people say they want innovation, but in practice, they often do not recognise it, and if they do they run a mile from it. Raewyn genuinely wanted innovation and recognised innovative practice and did much to support and implement it.
Raewyn was truly authentic and her approach to social policy development was based on authentic care about developing a truly inclusive society, by weaving and building connections from the flax-roots through to the top-level decision-makers.
Raewyn would have wanted this kind of connecting to continue. Hers will be a hard act to follow but we should try.
Written by Hazel Ashton and reprinted with permission.
