Deborah Ann Manning is a New Zealand lawyer and charity founder. Manning founded food sharing charity KiwiHarvest, and a sister charity the New Zealand Food Network to redistribute food more efficiently and reduce environmental pollution from food waste. In 2024, Manning was appointed an Officer of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

, for services to the community and the environment.

Early life and education

Manning was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where her father was studying medicine. The family returned to New Zealand when Manning was three, and settled in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

. Manning attended Ngā Tawa boarding school in Marton. Manning is a qualified physiotherapist and lawyer, having studied physiotherapy at

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic is a public Education in New Zealand#Tertiary education, New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell, New Zealand, Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provides career-f ...

and completed her

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

Career

Manning worked a physiotherapist and then as a lawyer and lecturer, before founding a food sharing organisation (initially named FoodShare and now called KiwiHarvest) in 2012. She had read newspaper articles about people gathering food from dumpsters, alongside articles about child poverty and food insecurity. KiwiHarvest collects and redistributes food that can’t be sold for reasons such as damaged packaging, cancelled orders, mislabelling or short-dated. Manning initially worked in Dunedin, using her own car to collect unwanted food and redistribute it through social service agencies and food banks. By 2024, KiwiHarvest was operating five branches nationally, and had delivered 12 million kilograms of food to more than 220 charitable organisations. Manning's brother, former

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

David Kirk David Edward Kirk (born 5 October 1960) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He is best known for having been the captain of the All Blacks when they won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987. Early years Kirk was born in Wellington an ...

, chairs the board of KiwiHarvest. In 2020 Manning founded the New Zealand Food Network. The network created a national food distribution network with more than 65 hubs, and is aimed at creating a more efficient redistribution system for large volumes of food. The network provides food assistance to more than 650,000 people each month. Manning is a panel member of organisation New Zealand Food Waste Champions 12.3, which provides education, advocacy and strategy about food rescue, towards the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 of halving New Zealand's food waste by 2030.

Honours and awards

In 2022 Manning was named Sustainability Superstar at the Sustainable Business Network’s Sustainable Business Awards. She has been named as a Distinguished Alumni of Otago Polytechnic, and was one of the 2023 Top 50 Women in Food & Drink in Aotearoa New Zealand. In 2022 KiwiHarvest jointly won the not-for-profit category at The Grand Business South Awards. Manning was a finalist in the Community Hero section of the Women of Influence Awards in 2020, and a semi-finalist in the 2022 Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero of the Year awards. In the

2024 King's Birthday Honours The 2024 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part o ...

, Manning was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community and the environment. In 2025 Manning was named the Sustainability Leader of the Year in the

New Zealander of the Year Awards The New Zealander of the Year Awards, currently known as the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards, celebrate the achievements of New Zealanders and were founded in 2010 by Australian Jeffrey Hopp, Jeffrey John Hopp. Nominations are accepted ...

References

External links

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Nightly interview: Deborah Manning
', Manning interviewed on Channel 39 about Foodshare, Sep 28, 2017 via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Deborah New Zealand academics New Zealand women academics 21st-century New Zealand lawyers Academic staff of the University of Otago University of Otago alumni Sustainability advocates Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Year of birth missing (living people) People from Dunedin Living people