Trust Tairawhiti focuses on regional wellbeing, with a strategic emphasis on community initiatives, economic development and providing for future generations. It formed during the electricity reforms in the 1990s, resulting in the $20 million equity of the local power board retained through a community trust ownership model. The Trust Deed outlines its two central objectives - to preserve capital and to provide for beneficiaries (the people of Tairawhiti). Guided by its wellbeing framework, He Rangitapu, He Tohu Ora, the Trust invests by enabling others through grant funding, delivering targeted operations and capital investments. Trust Tairawhiti is also the regional Economic Development Agency and Regional Tourism Organisation.