About Lobby for Good
We built the thing we wish existed when life got complicated.
Lobby for Good helps everyday New Zealanders understand public systems, ask better questions, and challenge decisions that do not stack up - without needing a law degree, a wealthy uncle, or the ability to read 400-page reports without emotionally dissociating.
Erika Harvey
Founder. Problem solver. Pattern spotter. Reader of fine print no one hoped I'd notice. Allergic to "nothing to see here."
Why This Exists
It started as something I wished existed when I needed help.
Lobby for Good did not start as a grand master plan. It started as years of trying to navigate systems that were never designed for people who are already exhausted - education systems, health services, local government, public consultation, formal complaints, information requests, council reports, policy processes. The whole thrilling theme park of civic life, minus the rides and with significantly more acronyms.
When our daughter was diagnosed with autism, I found myself trying to understand systems that were supposed to help families, but often left families doing the heavy lifting themselves.
Then, through our family business in Tauranga's Marine Precinct, I found myself up against local government processes that affected not just us, but dozens of small businesses. And that is where the pattern became impossible to unsee.
"The people with time, money, lawyers, advisors, and existing relationships knew how to work the system. The people most affected by the decisions were often too busy working, parenting, surviving, or trying not to scream into a wheelie bin to participate properly."
That is not a level playing field. And while it is tempting to call it a conspiracy, most of the time it is something much more ordinary and much more dangerous: access. Some people get it. Most people do not.
I am also neurodiverse - ADD before it was rebranded and everyone started giving it better lighting. For years, that meant I thought differently, worked differently, connected dots other people missed, and occasionally forgot why I walked into a room. It also meant I could sit with complex, messy problems and see the moving parts from multiple angles. That has turned out to be useful.
Going up against local government while representing 25 small businesses taught me that public systems often reward endurance. Not fairness. Not lived experience. Not even common sense. Endurance. Who can keep asking questions? Who can read the reports? Who can spot the missing information? Who can sit through meetings, follow the paper trail, understand the legislation, and keep going after being told for the fifth time that someone will "circle back"?
Most people cannot. Not because they do not care. Because they have lives. That is the problem Lobby for Good is here to solve.
We are not anti-government.
We are anti-nonsense.
Good decision-makers need good information. The problem is that they do not always get it. Too often, decisions are shaped by the people who have the easiest access, the loudest representation, or the budget to keep showing up. We believe better information leads to better decisions - evidence over noise, patterns over isolated outrage, early intervention over expensive legal battles.
The Team
Ready to go. Waiting for the runway.
Behind Lobby for Good is an extraordinary group of professionals who believe in this work enough to volunteer their time and expertise while holding down other paying jobs. We cannot name them - but we can tell you what they bring.
Legal
Lawyers who can read legislation, spot procedural failures, and translate legalese into plain English.
LGOIMA & Research Analysts
Specialists in Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act requests - people who know how to pull documents, trace paper trails, and find what councils would rather you didn't.
Private Investigation
Licensed investigators who know how to verify facts, follow financial trails, and surface information that isn't volunteered.
Technology
Engineers and developers building the platform infrastructure - the tools, the AI, and the systems that make civic intelligence accessible.
Accounting & Finance
Professionals who can read council budgets, spot unusual spending patterns, and make financial accountability legible.
Design
Designers making complex civic information clear, accessible, and worth reading - because presentation matters.
Media & Journalism
Journalists and communications professionals who understand how to frame a story, verify a source, and hold the line on accuracy.
Community Advocates
People with lived experience navigating public systems - health, education, housing, local government - who understand what it actually costs to fight for fair treatment.
Every one of them is doing this for free.
These are top-of-their-field professionals - lawyers, investigators, engineers, journalists, accountants, designers, and researchers - who believe that civic accountability matters enough to give their time before there is a salary to offer. They are ready. The only thing standing between this team and full-time work is membership growth.
Help us get there.
The Mission
To make public decision-making fairer, clearer, and more accountable.
By giving everyday people access to the research, language, and support they need to be heard. No one should have to fight alone. No one should need wealth, insider knowledge, or unlimited time to ask fair questions. And no community should be left carrying the cost of decisions they were never properly empowered to shape.
"Lobby for Good exists because ordinary people deserve more than a three-minute speaking slot and a PDF no one warned them about."
Why "Lobby for Good"?
Because lobbying already shapes decisions.
That is not a dramatic statement. That is how power works. Businesses do it. Industry groups do it. Consultants do it. Developers do it. Professional lobbyists do it - quietly, strategically, and often very effectively.
The issue is not that advocacy exists. The issue is that everyday people are often the only ones expected to show up with nothing but a personal story, three minutes at a public meeting, and a microphone that may or may not be working.
Lobby for Good exists because communities deserve advocacy too. Not spin. Not outrage farming. Not yelling into the void and calling it strategy. Actual, evidence-based, well-researched civic advocacy that helps people understand what is happening and what they can do about it.
Because if decisions are being influenced, the public good deserves representation as well.
No one should have to fight alone.
Lobby for Good is being built for the people who usually get left out of the room. But to make it work, we need people in the room with us. Join us, support the work, share the research, or bring us into the issues your community is facing.
The more people who understand how the system works, the harder it becomes for the system to work without them.