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This month, we welcomed Keryn Martin as our new Business Development Manager at Velocity, specialising in the impact sector.
Keryn brings a unique blend of grassroots experience and financial insight, having spent years building community spaces, from youth venues to sports facilities, and supporting not-for-profits with practical financial systems. His passion for empowering underserved groups through better financial planning aligns perfectly with Velocity’s mission to create lasting value for clients and communities alike.
Whether it’s helping a community group set up in Xero or advocating for more inclusive financial products, Keryn is here to make a meaningful difference, one conversation, one connection, one project at a time.
We sat with Keryn for a Q&A about his background, and his aspirations.
After retiring early from a rugby career (at 22 years old), I got involved in youth work.
I was a Youth Worker in Wellington and part of the setup of ZEAL, a key youth provider in the region, and I just loved the work.
It’s been a bit of a journey with Velocity, but over the last four months, I’ve seen the real value that advisors provide and how many people just don’t get good advice around financial planning.
When you create a space for community and work with key people to make it happen, you see connection come to life.
I’ve been involved in many new community spaces, youth venues, new turfs, rugby clubs, performance spaces, basketball courts. Working with clients on a dream and turning it into reality is powerful. From a good feasibility study to creating a budget, to seeing the build happen, it’s exceptional.
I provide significant support around finances for community groups, setting them up in Xero, creating charts of accounts, and supporting year-end accounts to be done right.
I help them tell their story through a Statement of Service Performance: what they’ve done and what it cost to do it.
Many groups have very little knowledge about insurance or managing working capital. Most don’t even invest or protect against inflation. I want to support communities with knowledge and help them make good, informed decisions around financial planning.
At Velocity, I hope to make an impact across three levels:
* Clients: by delivering work that creates real, lasting value
* Team: by being someone reliable and collaborative
* Industry: by helping set new standards for innovation and integrity
Ultimately, I want my contribution to make a difference people can feel, and communities can be impacted by.
Financial wellbeing means having a sense of security, stability, and confidence around finances, not just having enough to meet basic needs, but also feeling empowered to plan for the future and make choices without constant financial stress.
It’s about educating people on their options and helping them feel informed about what might be best for them.
**Better Banking** – inspired by Grameen Bank (The Bank for the Poor). I’d love to see a social bank established in New Zealand to support people.
Most groups don’t have a steady income stream and rely heavily on contestable funding or government contracts.
While social enterprises are great - creating jobs and income for communities—they require significant work and expertise. Most people with those skills run their own businesses, and profits go to themselves.
Many people I’ve worked with over the years have self-funded the dream to build community.
They’ve sold houses and given it all away to support the poor. These are people who will never win awards or seek recognition, they want to remain anonymous. These are my heroes: the quiet achievers.
Any 80’s rock, baby.
A horse stood on my foot when I was 13, and it hurt for five years.
The harder I work, the luckier I am.
Nothing happens by chance. Constant effort brings reward.
During career changes, especially in people-focused work, I’ve learned that empathy and patience open more doors than ambition alone. This mantra helps me lead and collaborate with compassion, even in uncertain or high-pressure moments.
Climb a mountain.