About
About COS I MATTER NZ
COS I MATTER NZ is a lived-experience informed advocacy education and empowerment social enterprise.
We believe people should remain at the centre of the systems designed to care for and support them - with their rights, dignity, voice, preferences and wellbeing recognised in the decisions that affect their lives.
We also believe families and whānau bring knowledge that matters. Professional expertise and lived experience are not competing forms of knowledge. Good decisions require both.
Our role is not to take over someone's advocacy. It is to equip people with the knowledge, tools and confidence to understand their rights, ask questions, prepare effectively, communicate clearly and persist appropriately when concerns remain unresolved.
Because families can be informed, prepared and persistent – but systems must also be willing to listen, respond and be accountable.
People matter. Their voices matter. And systems should serve the people they exist to support.
Dignity
Empowerment
Integrity
Accountability
Our model
COS I MATTER NZ is an independent, purpose-driven social enterprise built to create sustainable social impact.
Our work brings together advocacy, education, practical support, community, lived experience and systems-change advocacy.
We believe change happens at two levels:
By equipping individuals and families to advocate effectively within the systems they encounter today, and by using lived experience to identify recurring gaps and contribute to conversations about how those systems can work better tomorrow.
Income generated through programmes, workshops, services and partnerships helps sustain and grow this work.
Our purpose is impact – empowering people while advocating for systems that are responsive, accountable and centred on those they exist to serve.
Our story
Why COS I MATTER NZ was created
Chante Betham, Founder
I am the daughter of Monty Betham Snr - a respected New Zealander who has contributed significantly to sport and community throughout his life.
During my father's illness, I became his Enduring Power of Attorney for health and welfare and found myself navigating aged care, disability and health systems during one of the most difficult periods of our family's life.
I entered those systems believing that if I stayed involved, asked questions, communicated clearly and advocated appropriately, the processes designed to protect vulnerable people would work as intended.
My experience made me question that assumption.
I saw how difficult it could be to have concerns heard, how quickly family knowledge could be discounted, how fragmented communication could affect decision-making, and how much responsibility could fall back onto families already carrying the emotional and practical weight of caring for someone they love.
But it also taught me something important.
Families need more than information. They need to understand their rights, know what questions to ask, prepare effectively, document what is happening, communicate with confidence and know when and how to persist.
At the same time, responsibility cannot rest solely with families.
Systems must also listen. They must respond. They must recognise the person behind the process, value lived experience alongside professional expertise, and be accountable when something isn't working.
What began as advocacy for my father became a much bigger question:
If a family with visibility, legal documentation and strong advocacy could experience these challenges, what is happening to families without the same voice, resources or platform?
That question became the foundation of COS I MATTER NZ.
Not simply to help families navigate systems as they currently exist, but to equip people to advocate effectively, bring lived experience into the conversation and contribute to meaningful systems change.
Informed. Prepared. Persistent.
