Jackie Clark (born 1964) is a New Zealand philanthropist and advocate for women. She established

The Aunties The Aunties is a South-Auckland, New Zealand-based charity helping vulnerable women and children who have experienced domestic violence. Founded in 2013 by Jackie Clark, the group aims to provide material help and pastoral care in the spirit of m ...

, a charity helping vulnerable women and children who have experienced domestic violence.

Biography

Clark was born in

Grey Lynn Grey Lynn is an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the west of the city centre. Originally a separate borough, Grey Lynn amalgamated with Auckland City in 1914. Grey Lynn is centred on Grey Lynn Park, which was not part of the ...

's Bethany Hospital, owned by her great-grandmother, and raised in

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

. She was one of ten children; her mother Patricia (née France) was her father Tom's third wife. When Clark was 12 years old she left home for boarding school at her own request; she attended

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Samuel Marsden Collegiate School is a private composite girls school located in the Wellington suburb of Karori in New Zealand. It has a socio-economic decile of 10 - on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 reflecting the lowest socioeconomic communities - ...

in Wellington. She spent her last year of high school at

Rangitoto College Rangitoto College is a state coeducational secondary school, located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Serving years 9 to 13, Rangitoto has a school roll of as of making it the largest "brick-and-mortar" school in New Zealand (on ...

and then studied art and Southeast Asian history at

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. After graduating in 1986 she went overseas and lived in England, France and Switzerland before returning to New Zealand. Back in New Zealand, Clark studied for a teaching qualification and became a kindergarten teacher. Her first jobs were in low-income neighbourhoods - Otara and Owiraka - where she witnessed issues of poverty, crime, violence, drugs and alcohol and generational trauma first-hand. While working at a kindergarten in Mangere, Clark began to donate lost property from the kindergarten to the local

women's refuge A women's shelter, also known as a women's refuge and battered women's shelter, is a place of temporary protection and support for women escaping domestic violence and intimate partner violence of all forms. The term is also frequently used to ...

. She visited the refuge's safe houses and met women living there, and began to help with more specific needs. She created lists of items needed by the women and their children, shared these on social media, collected items and delivered them to the houses. Clark gathered other women to help her and the group became known as The Aunties in 2013. She later resigned her job, sold her house and moved to

Manurewa Manurewa is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand. It was part of Manukau City before the creation of the Auckland super city in 2010. It is located south of the Manukau, Manukau City Centre, and southeast of Auckland CBD. The subur ...

, south Auckland, so she could run the charity full-time. In 2018 Clark was awarded a

Queen's Service Medal The Queen's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to ...

for services to women. The same year, she won two awards at the

New Zealand Women of Influence Awards The New Zealand Women of Influence Awards are an annual set of awards which recognise women who make a difference to everyday New Zealanders' lives. The Awards were first made in 2013 and were initially sponsored by Westpac Bank. In 2016, Stuff N ...

: Supreme Award and Community and Not-for-Profit. In 2021, Clark launched a book of stories by survivors of domestic violence, told in their own voices, ''Her Say.''

Personal life

Clark met her husband Ian in 1991 and they married shortly after. He was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in 1996 and died on 31 December 2018 of liver failure. Clark's great-great-grandfather was Rice Owen Clark, and her father was Sir Tom Clark, founders of the

Crown Lynn Crown Lynn was a New Zealand ceramics manufacturer that operated under various names between 1854 and 1989. Early history The pottery's origins started with an 1854 land purchase at Hobsonville, near Auckland, by Rice Owen Clark. He had arriv ...

ceramics business. Clark has spoken about the family legacy of industrial success, in particular the family's relationship with the local

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

. In an interview in 2021 she said: "The reality is my family came here in 1843 and my great-great-grandfather built this great relationship with

Te Kawerau ā Maki Te Kawerau ā Maki, Te Kawerau a Maki, or Te Kawerau-a-Maki is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It had 251 registered adult members as of June 2017. Auckland Council gave it land for a marae at Te Henga (Bethells Be ...

and bought all of Hobsonville ... and my family prospered and Te Kawerau ā Maki didn't. I owe them a debt. I owe these women a debt."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Jackie Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal University of Auckland alumni New Zealand Women of Influence Award recipients People educated at Rangitoto College People educated at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School People from Takapuna 1964 births Living people New Zealand philanthropists