He will look into the collaboration of public sector agencies for service enhancement
Matthew Harris, the courts and tribunals acting group manager at the Ministry of Justice’s operations and service delivery group, is a recipient of the 2026 Leadership Development Centre (LDC) Fellowship.
He will look into the collaboration of public sector agencies for service enhancement. In particular, he will study practical methods for agency leaders to work towards common goals and cross organisational boundaries, given his belief that New Zealanders saw public services not as individual bodies but as one system.
Harris will delve into studies conducted in New Zealand, Canada and UK. He will also coordinate with leaders, staff and stakeholders in the wider justice system and public sector organisations to investigate collaboration both the leadership and frontline perspectives.
“Through this fellowship, I hope to identify ways for leaders to strengthen collaboration across organisational boundaries so that services work more effectively for the people who rely on them”, Harris said in a justice ministry media release.
The research findings are expected to inform his development of practical lessons for the country. Harris credited justice secretary Andrew Kibblewhite for providing support throughout the fellowship application process as well as his own team for its consistent encouragement.
Kibblewhite described Harris’ receipt of the fellowship as “a significant achievement and a real credit to him and his leadership”. The LDC Fellowship is geared towards mid-level and senior leaders and is granted for the purpose of international study.
In 2024, law professor Alexander Gillespie was given the 2024 Borrin Foundation Justice Fellowship, which granted him $116,072 to further his research into identifying the ideal model for best practice firearms legislation and determining necessary revisions to the law for the greater protection of New Zealanders against violence related to firearms. Last year, MinterEllisonRuddWatts announced Nathaniel Cashell and Grace Sheldon as the recipients of its Ngā Karahipi Whakaeke – Awards Programme; the scholarship included $5,000 in financial support, mentoring and CV development assistance.
The programme is targeted to Māori law students who are the first in their whānau tonu (immediate family) to attend university or pursue a Bachelor of Laws.
