Smart Seeds Programme
Empowering future leaders with the confidence, critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills to tackle today’s pressing community challenges.
From a seed of an idea, Smart Seeds is the start of something bigger.
Smart Seeds is a dynamic innovation programme run by GHD, in collaboration with our clients and partners. This programme brings the next generation of leaders together to tackle the challenges facing our communities. Over nine weeks, participants from multiple organisations develop valuable skills to empathise, re-frame problems, pitch ideas and influence positive change.
Participants work in diverse teams during five in-person workshops to explore challenges posed by senior leaders at the start of the programme. Participants grow in confidence and pitch their top solution to an audience of over 200 industry professionals and a C-suite judging panel at our evening Showcase event.
You get to take on a challenge, come up with a solution and think outside the box. You get to spend 8 weeks with great people and flex those intellectual muscles. I 100% would recommend it."
Emerging leaders, express your interest in participating
Smart Seeds is coming in 2026 and we’re looking for participants ready to grow, learn and connect!
Before applying, be sure to have a chat with your people leader/manager. If you’re keen, register your interest now and stay tuned for all the details!
Calling all senior leaders!
We're seeking industry leaders, innovators, and mentors to support our emerging leaders through their Smart Seeds journey. Whatever your passion, expertise, or time availability there’s roles to fit.
Keen to sponsor or partner with us?
We’d love to explore opportunities with your organisation – let’s start the conversation!
Roles in the Smart Seed Programme
Participant
The Smart Seeds participant role is ideal for early career professionals eager to collaborate, innovate and make a real impact in their community. Over nine weeks, you'll work in diverse teams, develop key skills, and present your solution at a final showcase event.
Time commitment: Estimate of 6 - 8 hours a week.
Time commitment: Estimate of 6 - 8 hours a week.
Mentor
Smart Seeds mentors are senior professionals who provide expert guidance, industry insights, and creative direction to support their team throughout the programme. They also help connect participants with valuable contacts and opportunities to strengthen their solutions.
Time commitment: A total commitment of 30 - 40 hours.
Alumni Mentor
Alumni mentors are past Smart Seeds participants who bring firsthand experience and programme insights to support their team alongside an industry mentor. They provide regular check-ins and guidance to help teams stay focused and progress effectively.
Time commitment: A total commitment of 30-40 hours.
Discover more about these positions and our other senior roles, including challenge developer, coaching expert, and panellists.
Benefits of Smart Seeds
Throughout their journey, participants benefit from mentorship, coaching from senior members of our partner organisations and guidance from an experienced facilitator.
What are the benefits for my organisation?
- A fresh approach on complex challenges that impact your customers and community
- Grow your teams’ capabilities, develop an innovative mindset and attract key talent
- Cross-sector network building opportunities
- Professional development for your emerging leaders to take part in a design-led innovation programme which focuses on building leadership and innovation skills
- Attraction and retention of the best emerging leaders within our regions
- Demonstrate your organisation’s commitment to innovation and collaboration
What are the benefits for my participants?
- Co-creation of human-centered solutions
- Smart Seeds accelerates the development of emerging leaders, where they will learn design-thinking processes, develop innovation skills, and refine their presentation capabilities
- Participants will have the opportunity to network, collaborate and build their professional networks with emerging and industry leaders in their region
- Participants will join our global alumni community where they can continue collaborating and influencing change
Smart Seeds is beneficial for our kamahi because it gives them an opportunity to grow outside Council, but they bring those skills back inside and share them with their teams and colleagues. The collaboration that they find in these teams and the relationships that they build carry on beyond the life of the programme. It gives them a sense of not just engaging with the community but giving back.”
I learned a lot about myself, my capabilities, and my leadership style as well as the importance of and strategies for approaching people with empathy. I will take away a lot from the experience, including connections and relationships that have been and will continue to be important in my career.”
My biggest takeaway as a mentor is how I interact with people and taking that step back from being the problem-solver to helping and encouraging others to develop skills. It’s not an easy switch to make but worth it for the development.”
10 years of Smart Seeds in New Zealand
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I'm really looking forward to seeing outcomes at the end that clients can pick up that are tangible and give that sort of shift to what's happening in this city and take it forward.
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So, Smart Seeds, here we go.
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they've been through a rigorous programme of testing their ideas and having to think about who's going to use it, how it's going to be delivered, where's the investment going to come from to make it happen?
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Our challenge was Why Care.
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We had to provide a solution that enabled Christchurch residents to understand their responsibility in maintaining clean waterways in Christchurch.
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Yes, it's all about the ideas that they create, but I'm also going to be really interested to see how teams of people from different organisations actually come together and solve problems.
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I was trying to remember back when I was their age, and I just thought I was blown away by how confident and composed they were, how enthusiastic and panic.
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The most valuable takeaway from participating in the programme was being able to collaborate with industry stakeholders and determine what the need was related to our challenge.
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We can all see in ourselves, but also within our team, the growth and development we've all had, both for a project-based initiative, but also learning about food security and the challenge that it is for so many people here in Auckland.
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Not only did we learn so much about options and methods to help reduce and reuse and recycle construction material, but also network with other industry leaders who are really paving the way and making a difference out there that we could essentially be a part of.
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It's building for the future.
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To stop, to think, and to really encourage creativity.
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Smart Seed is really great at addressing challenges in a totally different way.
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It thinks outside the box.
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How to work in a team, how to solve conflict.
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I thought it would be a really cool challenge to do something outside of work and also meet so many amazing people here.
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I personally came out of my comfort zone collaborating with different
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by industry professionals across Auckland.
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For anyone thinking of joining Sparsies, I just say go for it.
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It's a great opportunity for our younger generation to connect, build networks and very much create new ideas, creating a sustainable future for our industry going forward.
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And that's what I truly love about it.