Welcoming Steven Moe to Purposely Podcast — partner at Parry Field Lawyers, founder of the Seeds Podcast, author, event organiser, governance leader, and one of the more consistently active people in New Zealand's for-purpose sector.

Steven's career has had two distinct chapters. The first was corporate law - big firms, big transactions, time in Japan, London and Sydney. The second, starting about ten years ago when he returned to Aotearoa, has been something quite different: using the law as a tool to support charities, social enterprises and purpose-driven organisations, while building a body of work around education, connection and community that goes well beyond legal advice.

In this conversation, they get into what drove that shift, how Steven thinks about his role as a catalyst for impact, and what it actually looks like to run at the pace he does — four kids, a law partnership, two podcasts, a team of 15, a governance role as Chair of Community Finance, and a conference coming up next month.

Steven talks about the career pivot that brought him back to Aotearoa and why that moment became one of reinvention rather than just a change of location. He traces the influences that shaped him — a Peace Corps family, time living in Chile as a child, early exposure to poverty — and how those experiences connect to the work he does now.

He makes the case for the law as a tool rather than an end in itself, and explains the thinking behind Parry Field's approach of giving away enormous amounts of free content, resources and events. The serve-and-win model isn't accidental — it's deliberate, and it works.

There's a practical thread running through the conversation too. Steven talks about the Pareto Principle and why he'd rather ship something at 80% than spend three times as long perfecting it. He talks about collaboration — why his default is to approach people, say yes, and bring others in rather than trying to do everything alone.

On the bigger picture, Steven shares his thinking on Community Finance, which has now raised more than $600 million to house people who would otherwise be on the emergency housing list. He also makes a case for separating housing, health and education from election cycles, and discusses the idea of impact companies — a possible new legal structure that borrows the best from both charities and businesses.

They also get into podcasting, parenting four children with intention, and what it means to stay present when there's always more to do. And Steven shares details on the Seeds Impact Conference on 22 May a free online event with around 20 speakers from across the sector. Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/impact-conference-2026

Find Steven and the Seeds Podcast at theseeds.nz and Parry Field Lawyers at parryfield.com — including a large library of free legal resources for the for-purpose sector.

This episode of Purposely is brought to you by Benevity and Trust Investments NZ.

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