12 August 2022 at 1:01 pm
PIF Recipient: Boma
The world’s most successful rugby franchise is the first partner for a Kiwi organisation that’s out to shake up the way leadership is taught around the world.
Christchurch-based Boma is a new kind of education provider, on a mission to support current and emerging leaders to be more intentional, intelligent, and courageous for the future. Boma runs events, workshops, and courses, and has worked with leading organisations in Aotearoa and around the world, from global tech companies Facebook and Zoom to locally based organisations such as Meridian Energy, Stuff, and New Zealand Trade & Enterprise.
But it’s the next phase of Boma’s expansion that’s really set to make waves on the world stage. Thanks to an award of funding from the International Education Product Innovation Fund, Boma is creating a global, cohort-based course for rugby coaches delivered in partnership with The Crusaders – the Christchurch-based professional rugby team and the most successful team in the history of the Super Rugby competition.
Founder and CEO of Boma NZ, Kaila Colbin with Crusaders Coach, Scott Robinson
"We at Boma are so excited to be working with Education NZ and the Product Innovation Fund. We share so many things: a commitment to excellence; an agile test-learn-iterate approach; and a passion for bringing Aotearoa's special sauce to the world. We're honoured to have been chosen as one of the recipients of the fund, and we know we'll be able to go farther, faster by working together".
Kaila Colbin , Founder and CEO, Boma New Zealand
Aimed at rugby coaches from high school teams through to professional level, the Crusaders Coaching Leadership Programme™ will run for the first time in late 2022. Unlike competitors who offer training through on-demand video but generate low completion rates, Boma’s pilot project with The Crusaders combines the flexibility of self-directed learning with the accountability of being part of a real-time cohort of learners.
Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ) is the agency behind the Product Innovation Fund. As New Zealand’s dedicated government agency for international education, ENZ is helping shape a broader, more diverse international education sector with built-in resilience to future shocks such as global pandemics.
In total, seven pilot projects have been supported through the Product Innovation Fund. Together, they reimagine what a New Zealand education experience could look like and mean for global learners. Boma’s pilot project, for example, taps into a new audience – rugby coaches around the world looking to learn ‘The Crusaders Way’. Before COVID-19, rugby coaches from around the world would travel to New Zealand to learn what makes the team so successful.
By partnering with Boma, The Crusaders will be able to share their rugby and leadership expertise with learners around the world through a course offering that is high quality, consistent and scalable.
Boma has big plans for the future and sees a logical path for its course offerings to grow from rugby leadership into sports leadership, to business leadership and then into general leadership. Boma’s approach to learning is as much values-led as it is content-led, and this sets Boma apart from its competitors.
The support from ENZ through the Product Innovation Fund for Boma’s first pilot project with The Crusaders may well pave the way for more to follow. With a goal of building the leaders the world needs, Boma sees an opportunity to partner with other well-respected, values-led organisations like The Crusaders to create transformational, immersive learning experiences from New Zealand to the world.
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