Richard Adams

“I saw the impact that our volunteer team were having on the ground, supporting hundreds of people who would have otherwise been struggling on their own, with nowhere to turn for help.”

This is just one of 19 disaster relief efforts around the world supported by Taskforce Kiwi (TFK) since Adams first established the charity in 2022. Mobilising defence and emergency services veterans and skilled volunteers to respond to emergencies across New Zealand and overseas, the charity began work with several weeks of assistance following the Auckland Anniversary floods in January 2023. It has since recruited 800 volunteers, deployed 428 of them on 19 operations to eight countries, and contributed over 16,000 hours of disaster relief work. 

Adams graduated from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, in 2005 having completed a degree in Ancient History with a focus on Egyptology. He then moved to the United Kingdom and joined the British Army, where he took on training roles and served in Afghanistan. 

“I spent a lot of time in the vicinity of interesting archaeological sites, but it very clearly wasn’t the reason that I was there,” he says. 

Adams then moved to Melbourne in 2014, working in several leadership roles in emergency management and disaster relief. 

Moving home to Aotearoa in 2020, Adams established TFK and now serves full-time as an Officer in the New Zealand Army. He says his time at the University of Auckland was hugely formative in getting him to where he is today. 

“Despite my career not being related to my major, I thoroughly enjoyed my course of study and had – and still have – a real passion for the subject,” he says. “I understood that my career choices needed to be based on something that I enjoyed and gave me meaning, which is how I’ve ended up where I am today.” 

Balancing working full-time for the New Zealand Army while leading TFK as a volunteer, Adams still has big plans to make the charity the leading volunteer disaster relief organisation in Aotearoa. 

“To do this I need to continue seeking funding and support, and I want to grow the organisation to 1,000 volunteers nationwide,” he says. “We’re at 800 after only three years, so I’m hoping to achieve this goal in the not-too-distant future.” 

He also wants to expand its international reach, helping raise the profile of New Zealand-led NGOs globally. 

Adams' leadership and impact through TFK has already seen him named a semi-finalist for the 2024 New Zealander of the Year Awards, but he says the work is reward enough. 

“Knowing that every time we deploy a volunteer, they are going to have a massive positive impact on the lives of those struggling after disasters, is all the motivation you need to keep going,” he says. “The feedback I receive also suggests that many volunteers find a sense of purpose, identity and community with TFK, which is both rewarding and humbling.” 

Outside of his work with TFK, Adams is a family man who aims to spend as much time as possible with his wife and two young children. While he never imagined that his career would have turned out the way it did – a journey from ancient studies, to the army, to emergency management, to disaster relief – he still sees a common theme running through all of it. 

“Trying to find ways to make myself useful,” he says. “It’s still a work in progress.”