Who we are

Haemia (woman), Impact Ink founder, wearing glasses, green top, and a gold chain necklace.

about impact ink

Tēnā koe, ko Haemia Melling tōku ingoa.
Ko Dan tōku tāne, ko Reuben rāua ko Benji āku tama.
Kei Cromwell, Central Otago ahau e noho ana.

Hello, I’m Haemia Melling, founder and director of Impact Ink—whew, can you believe it?

I grew up in Mahurangi, north of Tāmaki Makaurau, and after spending much of my career in the city, in 2023, I made the move to Cromwell, Central Otago, with my husband Dan, our two boys Reuben and Benji, and our dog, Jeff.

I’ve worked in the banking sector for more than 15 years, with experience in community investment, social sustainability, and financial education. Previously in my life, I have also found myself as a highschool English teacher. I’m a prolific reader, a keen doodler, and ruddy pleased to find myself delivering Impact Ink to you. It’s a bit cool.

why we do what we do

As I’ve grown to understand more about who I am and what brings me joy, I’ve learned how to articulate what it is that I want to do in my work:

Impact Ink will focus on delivering kaupapa that contributes to equitable outcomes for a thriving Aotearoa.

Equity is compassionate, kind, people-centric, and enables intergenerationally positive outcomes for society and the environment.

My experience in the last few years has allowed me to deliver equity-improving kaupapa, and that’s what I want to keep doing. This is what drives Impact Ink.

some of our greatest collaborations

  • Westpac New Zealand is one of Aotearoa, New Zealand’s largest banks with more than 5,000 employees and around 1.5 million customers.

    Haemia was employed by Westpac throughout 2007 to 2024, and from 2019 to 2021, Haemia was the Programme Manager, Financial Wellbeing.

  • Westpac had a 2025 sustainability target to empower 25,000 Kiwis with financial literacy through the Managing Your Money (MYM). When COVID-19 disrupted in-person workshops, Haemia led a pivot to an online format, ensuring continuity and expanding access.

    By redesigning content and training over 170 facilitators nationwide, the programme exceeded its original target, reaching nearly 37,000 participants. Partnerships with organisations like MyMahi and SeniorNet further extended its reach. In 2021 alone, MYM had its strongest year, with over 14,000 people participating.

  • ✅ Nearly 37,000 people accessed MYM in 2019 - 2021
    ✅ 2025 target achieved two years ahead of schedule with 2021 highest year on record (to date)
    ✅ Awarded Anti-Fraud Award for Stash the Cash, a scam awareness card game launched to an audience of ~20,000

    Managing Your Money’s successes and growth is a team effort. With support from volunteer facilitators delivering the programme across the motu, Fraud team collaboration for Stash the Cash, and Sustainability team for being key partners. Key scale community partners through this period were MyMahi and SeniorNet.

  • Dignity NZ is an award winning women-led social enterprise with a vision of achieving period equity in Aotearoa.

    Westpac brought Dignity on as one of their suppliers in 2022 after a proposal developed and driven by Haemia.

  • Westpac New Zealand recognised the financial burden of period products and sought to drive greater equity by providing free access to these essentials in the workplace and beyond.

    When Haemia identified this gap, she led a fact-based campaign, engaging the Women of Westpac Employee Action Group and key decision-makers. Her case highlighted the cost burden and its role in the gender pay gap.

    As a result, Westpac committed to providing free period products across all sites. Partnering with Dignity NZ, this investment also ensured equal product donations to communities across Aotearoa, amplifying impact beyond the workplace.

    This initiative reinforced Westpac’s leadership in gender equity and community investment, delivering practical, lasting change.

  • ✅ 86,000 period products supplied to Westpac staff
    ✅ 86,000 period products gifted to Dignity Give Partners as part of their buy-one gift-one programme
    ✅ Partnership contributes to Westpac’s Gender Tick accreditation

    Dignity NZ were a valued partner in this collaboration between Haemia, the Women of Westpac EAG, and the Westpac properties team.

  • In 2023, Haemia was seconded to explore Westpac’s community investment commitments, with responsibility to manage and drive achievement of 2025 sustainability target: 1% pre-tax profit invested in communities.

  • Westpac sought to align its community investment reporting with global standards while ensuring its contributions were accurately measured and reflected. When outdated definitions threatened its ability to meet the 1% community investment target, Haemia led a strategic review to modernise reporting.

    By conducting a comprehensive analysis, she updated criteria to better reflect impact, bes-practice reporting, and securing recognition for $3M in emergency relief funds. These changes reinforced Westpac’s contribution to community investment, ensuring a robust measurement approach.

  • ✅ 1.16% of pre-tax profit ($17.1M) invested in communities in 2023
    ✅ Exceeded 1% pre-tax profit investment target two years ahead of schedule (2020–2025 goal)
    ✅ $3M in emergency relief delivered as non-repayable grants

    Haemia worked alongside Westpac’s executive leadership team, the Sustainability team, Westpac Group community team members, and Corporate Citizenship (the team behind B4SI) to deliver these outcomes.

  • SeniorNet is a registered charity who provides a community learning network that supports and motivates people to confidently use technology in their everyday lives.

    Through 2019 - 2021, Haemia managed the partnership as Programme Manager - Financial Wellbeing for Westpac NZ.

  • In 2020, SeniorNet, a not-for-profit supporting seniors with digital confidence, sought to revitalise its impact with it Westpac partnership while under new leadership. SeniorNet and Westpac were particularly interested in supporting people transitioning away from using cheques as a form of payment, and to support those unable to use the branch network as a result of COVID-19.

    Haemia worked closely with the organisation to develop a strategic partnership that articulated clear commitments and measurable outcomes.

    Through targeted initiatives, SeniorNet transformed its reach and positioned itself as a leader in digital education for seniors. The partnership secured extended funding, introduced a train-the-trainer model, and significantly increased participation numbers.

  • ✅ Secured four-year funding extension from Westpac
    ✅ Developed and launched a train-the-trainer programme
    ✅ Participant numbers grew from 110 in 2020 to 3,374 in 2022 (a 30x increase)

    The success of this partnership was heavily reliant on working with SeniorNet collaborators who were driven, engaged, and proactive.