This report explores New Zealand’s ‘Bright Spots’ – local places and community initiatives that are making a positive difference to children and families. Instead of asking about the issues and problems for ‘vulnerable children’ or ‘high-needs families’, we ask ‘what’s working?’ What are ‘bright spots’ doing that is different from the rest of the country? Why are they having an impact? A total of twenty-one initiatives were explored through informal interviews and conversations. The initiatives ranged in size and scale, age, geography, entity type (e.g. unincorporated community groups/ leaders, not-for-profit agencies, corporations).