Ko te amorangi ki mua, ko te hāpai ō ki muri.

After graduating from Auckland University with an LLB, Te Rau practiced law in Auckland and Wellington, specialising in litigation. From 2005 to 2017, Te Rau held a number of senior executive roles across government, including Deputy Secretary for the Environment, and Deputy Chief Executive roles at the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. Te Rau holds a number of governance roles including with Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou and advisory roles with Statistics New Zealand, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Ministry of Defence. In 2016, Te Rau co-authored Mauri Ora – Wisdom from the Māori world.

Lil’s career has spanned more than 30 years’ across the public service and wider state sector. Authentic leadership, vision and strategy, , leading change, problem solving and driving results have been key features of her career.

Prior to joining Te Amokura, Lil was the inaugural Tumu Whakarae (Chief Executive) of the Office for Māori Crown Relations – Te Arawhiti (Te Arawhiti), the agency that reported to the Minister for Māori Crown Relations, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and the Minister responsible for the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act. She was the public sector lead on Maori-Crown relations.

Lil’s leadership was critical across the public sector system in supporting the journey of the Māori Crown partnership and helping the Crown to build on the sense of renewal in Māori Crown relations established through the Treaty settlement process.

Lil has also worked extensively in Australia based at the Australia New Zealand School of Government working across the public service both federally and within Queensland on engagement, partnership and capability programmes.

Lil was born and raised in Panguru, a settlement in the northern Hokianga Harbour and belongs to Te Rarawa and Ngapuhi.

Lynette joined Te Amokura after 15 years with Whakaata Māori as their Head of News and Current Affairs and Planning. Lynette's extensive experience in Māori broadcasting and the media sector underpins her abilitity to co-design and implement a multi platform approach to weaving a 'good story'. Her relationship management is exceptional and has built strong rapport with iwi and te ao Māori leaders.

Problem-solving and planning is king to executing any task at hand and Lynette brings this strength to the teams she works with. She quickly identifies the problem or goal and takes you on the journey to achieve it.

Lynette has executive level knowledge of operational Human Resources disciplines and has experience in financial literacy, people management and high-level strategic design.

Prior to joining Te Amokura in 2019, Sarah spent 15 years working in the financial services industry specialising in funds management and investment advice. She most recently held the role of General Manager at Taupō Moana Funds.

Sarah's analytical mind and experience in senior roles within the private sector means that she is adept at problem solving complex environments and coming up with strategic solutions.

At Te Amokura, Sarah is a project lead, manages workflow and is involved with the company's finance management.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration majoring in Money and Finance, and Economics from Victoria University.

Glenys has 36 years’ experience across the education sector including early learning, primary, secondary and tertiary education. Her specialist area is Māori medium education pathways. She has held senior leadership and management roles in kura, the Education Review Office and the Ministry of Education.

Glenys has recently been responsible for leading the redesign of the national curriculum (Te Marautanga o Aotearoa) where she worked with education experts and leaders, whānau and Ministry officials to lay the foundation for an authentic indigenous curriculum that supports the aspirations of ākonga, their whānau, hapū and iwi.

Glenys holds a Bachelor of Education from Victoria University as well as Post Graduate Diplomas in Education (VUW) and Social Sector Research and Evaluation Methodologies (Massey University).

Hinerangi has more than 25 years of experience as a Māori communications specialist working primarily in the public sector but also for hapū and iwi. Her most recent contract was as the strategic communications lead at Te Tari Whakatau (formerly Te Arawhiti) during a challenging period of change for the organisation and the Māori Crown relationship.

She has been a Press Secretary (2014-16), worked with global advertising companies, led national communications campaigns, and worked with her Kāi Tahu hapū on pounamu management and cultural regeneration.

Hinerangi is a graduate of Te Panekiretanga o te reo Māori (2018) and has a Bachelor of Broadcast Communications – Journalism (1995). In her early career, Hinerangi was a broadcast journalist for Mana Māori Media (1994-97) and One Network News (1997-1999).

Her happy place is playing with her mokopuna, enjoying good kai and company and being outdoors.

Born and raised in Te Taitokerau, Kelvin brings a wealth of experience across various sectors, including Education, Local Government, Central Government and the private sectors. Graduating from the Auckland College of Education with a diploma in teaching, Kelvin spent over two-decades within the education system holding an array of teaching roles, and notably serving as Principal at both Karetu School and Kaitaia Intermediate.

In 2008, Kelvin entered Parliament as a Member of Parliament and was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2017-2023. During this time, Kelvin held many significant Ministerial roles, including Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti, Minister for Children with responsibility for Oranga Tamariki, Minister of Corrections, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Education (Maori Education). As a descendant of Whetoi Pomare, one of the signatories to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Te Tiriti was the backbone for his Ministerial portfolios. As the architect of Te Arawhiti – the office for Maori-Crown Relations, Kelvin’s passion is to support the realisation of Maori aspirations and to support the Crown to be an excellent Te Tiriti Partner.

Les comes to Te Amokura with an extensive policing and security background with over 20-years of operational, strategic and tactical experience. During his career, he was a key member of the Prime Minister’s personal security and close protection detail with the Diplomatic Protection Service. He has also been involved in the planning and execution of many high level visits by foreign dignitaries.

Prior to joining Te Amokura, Les spent the last 7-years working across local and central government, providing specialist security advice, most recently with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Parliamentary Services. In these roles, Les was responsible for managing and implementing successful transformative security improvement programmes.

Rawinia (aka, Ra or Whaea Ra) enjoyed a long career in the public sector, primarily in administration and finance roles, having worked previously with the Department of Māori Affairs, Te Tira Ahu Iwi (Iwi Transition Agency), Te Puni Kōkiri, the Office of the Māori Trustee and Hato Pāora College in Feilding. Ra is married to Vaughn and has two sons, Sonny and Luther, who keep her just as busy as the Te Amokura whānau.

Rotorua is “home” for Ra where she has whakapapa links to Te Arawa, Ngāti Whātua and Ngāi Tahu.

Mākere hails from Ngāti Porou and supports the operations of the Tairāwhiti office. She has worked and has experience in justice, education, health and wellbeing, Māori development, and food and beverage sectors.

The East Coast called her home in 2017 where she supported the establishment and management of Hāti Nāti Cafe and Out East Tourism. Prior to this she supported the establishment of Te Pā o Rākaihautū, was a production assistant for Te Amokura Productions, and worked in administration for the Office of the Chief Judge of the Māori Land Court and Waitangi Tribunal.

Her experience working within different environments and with various groups enables her to navigate varying settings, keep people to task, and respond to challenges as they arise.

Chelsea has a wealth of experience from the banking sector spanning 20 years, most of it with Aotearoa’s biggest bank. She joins us from her most recent role as Business Manager, where she worked closely with a range of high value businesses, providing tailored financial and banking support, ensuring they were well set them up for success now and in the future.

Chelsea brings to Te Amokura a unique skillset that will be critical in supporting Te Amokura future ambitions. Her banking career has helped shape Chelsea’s expertise in business management and operations, sales and financial products, customer relations, and micro-level problem solving.

Chelsea was born and raised in Waitara and is of Te Āti Awa and Taranaki descent. She now resides in Porirua with her husband and 2 children.

After graduating from Victoria University of Wellington with Bachelor’s degrees in Arts and Law, Whaimutu joined the public service, rising to become the chief legal adviser in what was then the Department of Māori Affairs. In 1988, he was a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., looking at Māori economic development, and in the same year he graduated with a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Whaimutu worked in senior roles for Fletcher Challenge and held directorships at organisations including Housing New Zealand, Television New Zealand, Māori Television, and Ngāti Porou Holding Company.

Whaimutu is a leader in Māori business organisations, with particular expertise in forestry and fisheries, serving as Chair of Ngāti Porou Forests, the Sealord Group and Moana New Zealand. He also served as a member of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission in its first 10 years.

A prominent advocate for the revitalisation of te reo Māori, Whaimutu regards the fact he and his wife Judy have raised their children to be fluent in the Māori and English languages to be one of the highlights.

In 2018, he was awarded the Māori Governance Leader Award as part of the Māori Business Leader Awards.

Michelle has held senior roles across the public service for the last 25 years. Most recently she was the Deputy Director-General at Te Papa Atawhai (DOC) supporting them to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Prior to that she was the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kōkiri which progressed Whānau Ora, te reo Māori, Whenua Māori, Housing for Māori to highlight a few areas. She is driven by advising and making things happen for whānau Māori, hapū and iwi.

While at Te Papa Tongarewa the repatriation of tūpuna was a priority and under her stewardship an exhibition about Māori was curated and presented in Paris, Mexico City and Quebec. As a Policy Advisor in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet she advised on the establishment of Māori Television, Māori fisheries and the first Māori aquaculture arrangements.

Michelle is the Chair of the Risk and Assurance Committee for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Co-chair of Te Kura Māori o Porirua, a Management Committee member for Mangatū Blocks Incorporation and a member of the Recruitment and Appointments Committee for Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Toa Rangatira.

Michelle lives in Takapūwāhia, Porirua the home of her husband Evan’s people and they are the proud parents of Marsella and Tame.

Pele is a graduate of Auckland University with a Bachelor of Education and Master of Arts, and is one of the first graduates of the Kura Kaupapa Māori Diploma in Teaching in the formative years of the Kura Kaupapa movement in Auckland (now Te Kura Takiura).

She moved back to the East Coast to help lead the establishment of Kuranui, a kaupapa-ā-Iwi model of education.

Pele has a wealth of knowledge which ranges from grassroots community kaupapa to the public sector and provides extensive advice and support across the tari.

Over the past twenty years she has been instrumental in producing a stream of outstanding graduates from the small East Coast towns of Tolaga Bay and Tokomaru Bay. Her upbringing instilled in her a love of mātauranga, te taiao and haka.

Matanuku joins Te Amokura after almost 21 years as a founder and partner in the law firm Kahui Legal. He became a barrister in March 2023; and will provide both legal and advisory services focussed on corporate, commercial, public law and Treaty of Waitangi issues. Matanuku has appeared as counsel in all of the senior courts through to the Supreme Court, the Maori Land Court and the Waitangi Tribunal. He has acted as a Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiator and helped Ngati Porou to negotiate their bespoke foreshore and seabed agreement with the Crown. In 2012 he chaired the Ministerial Panel to Review Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. He was also one of two statutory reviewers for the 2022 review of the Intelligence and Security Act 2017.

In addition to working as a lawyer Matanuku has 20 years of governance experience. He is the current Chair of the Eastland Group, a director of the New Zealand Merino Company, and a member of the boards of Callaghan Innovation and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. He has been the Deputy Chair of Aotearoa Fisheries (now Moana New Zealand), Chair of Sealord Group and was the inaugural Chair of the Ngati Porou Holding Company.

Cath has worked at senior levels of the Public Sector in New Zealand and Australia.

Her experience spans policy development, leading legislation initiatives, the design and implementation of stakeholder engagement processes and leading and working with teams to build capability and improve performance.

Most recently, she led Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Act) which was passed in 2016.

A critical thinker, experienced in navigating diverse and complex situations, she has proven experience of working both within Māori and government contexts.

Carmen is a fan of the absurd, like this red telephone booth, now located inside our Wellington office. “We all make up stories inside our heads, out loud to each other, and through our mahi,” says Carmen. “Like, for example, the red telephone booth. I saw it and immediately remembered funny stories I experienced in booths. Could we turn it into a Tardis? Totally absurd. But it’s now part of my story at Te Amokura.”

Storytelling is Carmen’s love, and expertise. She’s a multi-award winning journalist, media executive, and communications specialist. She has worked in print, television and digital newsrooms from 2001-2024. Carmen was named Voyager’s editorial executive of the year in 2021, and runner up journalist of the year in 2019, and 2021.

In 2020, Carmen created and led Stuff’s Pou Tiaki strategy focused on improving representation of Māori and all marginalised communities. Part of her work included the increased use of te reo Māori across the business from lessons to dual masthead names. She recently introduced the world’s first media AI reo Māori translation tool with Straker and Microsoft. Over two years, Carmen led a production team, academics, and community leaders to create Te Matarau, an animated online programme to help Stuff staff use a multil lens approach rather than monocultural lens, in their everyday mahi. Part of the project included hosting the first ever, industry wide, news wānanga in 2023 focused on improving representation.

She also helped lead Stuff’s successful campaign to make Matariki a public holiday, and of course, the historic Tā Mātou Pono apology from Stuff to Māori for how they had been represented since the mid-1800s. It is still the only national media apology, in the world, to be offered to indigenous people. The project won the INMA Global Media Awards: Best in Asia/Pacific in 2021. Carmen was also named PRovoke Media’s top 25 media innovators in Asia/Pacific.

Her media career has included wide ranging multimedia reporting across Aotearoa and overseas, data research, and long investigations across many subjects and engaging with people in all parts of society from children to prime ministers. These skills and experiences can be applied to support any media strategies, editorial training, leadership initiatives, projects or comms campaigns.

Taimania has worked across several complex public sector work programmes in the areas of Crown Māori Relations, Māori Development, Natural Resources and Education. Taimania has experience in designing and implementing systems to improve consideration and implementation of Treaty commitments in policy development and is well versed in the machinery of government.

A critical thinker with a drive to deliver high quality outputs and outcomes, Taimania can provide leadership and support for specific projects or general capability for any team.

Taimania has extensive experience working for iwi and community organisations, focusing mostly on social development.

Taimania has an undergraduate degrees in Arts (Social Policy)(Hons) and Business Studies (Economics) and a Master of Arts (Social Policy)(Hons) from Massey University.

Taimania was raised in Gisborne. Her whānau are from Rangitukia and Tikitiki on the right side of the Waiapu valley!

After graduating from Victoria University of Wellington with a BA in Anthropology and Masters in Education, Thomas worked in an academic role for the university before spending time in the private sector. Thomas then transitioned to the public sector and has worked across government for close to 20-years in a variety of roles spanning policy, strategy and engagement for numerous departments and agencies including the Treasury, the Environmental Protection Authority, the Social Investment Agency, the Ministry of Education and Te Puni Kōkiri.

Thomas has also served as the Private Secretary for the Minister of Research Science and Technology.

Thomas was raised by his grandparents in Awakairangi with regular trips back to his Tairāwhiti homeland.

Mikaia was educated entirely in te reo Maori and is a graduate of Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. As an Honours graduate, since university her work choices have seen her consciously develop her passions by engaging in roles in policy and research analysis, procurement, cultural representation for Aotearoa, governance and management focusing on kaupapa Māori research and evaluation. Mikaia is equipped with the necessary communication, project management and research skills to collate and present information effectively to a variety of audiences.

Prior to joining Te Amokura, Mikaia worked in management roles, including most recently as the Research Manager for Te Mātāwai, which included managing the strategic research agenda for the organisation to discover, explore and reveal the many unique layers of te reo Māori revitalisation.

Outside of work, Mikaia is a proud member of Whangara-Mai-Tawhiti Kapahaka; and is the current Chairperson of the Nōnā Te Ao Trust, which supports rangatahi Māori to reach their full potential in education, leadership and employment.

Arihia has a background in communications, content development, production management, editing and publishing which all reflects her creative commitment to te reo Māori. Arihia has worked with many clients to develop creative marketing ideas for Māori language revitalisation. She understands the importance of integrating all communication initiatives.

Most recently, Arihia led a historical research Programme where she helped iwi and Māori to tell their Treaty Settlement stories.

Arihia has written, edited and published in the Māori language everything from children’s books to contributions to He Muka the prestige publication of the Māori Language Commission. She’s also written and designed collateral for major campaigns promoting te reo Māori and language planning.

With over 10-years as a professional sportsperson, Nehe brings strategy, leadership and high-performance capability to Te Amokura. With a depth of experience in health and wellbeing, Nehe has a system level focus on delivering better outcomes for Māori.

Hailing from Te Tairāwhiti, and with whakapapa to Ngāti Porou and Tapuika, Nehe debuted for the Ngāti Porou East Coast rugby team in 2021, winning his only game for the season against Poverty Bay, and importantly, allowing him to claim a 100% winning streak for his tribal team!

In 2015, Nehe was awarded the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the year, having played a key role in the All Blacks winning the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Luke is of Ngāti Raukawa-ki-te-tonga and Tūwharetoa descent. He was born and raised in Titahi Bay but hails from the Rangitīkei/Manawatū. As a registered clinical psychologist, Luke comes with over 20 years experience in health, whānau ora and high performance. His PhD focused on Tāne Ora – Māori Men’s health in the High Performance context.

Perhaps his greatest claim to fame is having a teenage daughter who constantly picks out his parental contradictions.

Te Wehi Wright is a product of Kōhanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori Aho Matua.

He completed a conjoint BA/LLB majoring in te reo Māori, Māori studies and Resource Management at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington and has spent the past five years working in the private sector, focusing on measuring and building the cultural capital of organisations.

Before joining Te Amokura, Te Wehi worked for Tuaropaki Trust, one of the most successful intergenerational trusts in Aotearoa, specialising in increasing the cultural capital of the Trust. He has project management experience and has worked in strategy design, innovation, engagement and policy.

Awhina joined Te Amokura in early 2020, and has since been involved in a number of projects within the areas of policy, research and strategy that utilises her analysis, interpretation and writing skills. She has worked across a number of public sector work programmes in the areas of Māori Development, Conservation and Social Development.

Awhina graduated from the University of Auckland with a BA (Māori Studies) and BHSc with a focus on Public Health and Māori health research.

Prioir to joining Te Amokura, Awhina worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade working in the multilateral space on environmental issues.

Awhina was proudly born and raised in Gisborne with whānau ties to Tikitiki and Rangitukia.

Manahi holds a Bachelor of Laws from Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington and was admitted to the bar in 2020. He spent five years at a commercial law firm in Wellington, where he became an experienced member of the Environmental & Planning, Māori Law, and Property Law teams.

During this time, Manahi worked across a diverse range of matters, including resource management, Māori legal issues, local government, Public Works Act transactions, and Marine and Coastal (Takutai Moana). He also founded, Hīkitia which focused on strengthening the cultural capability of his previous firm.

Manahi hails from Rangitukia in the heart of the Waiapu valley and currently resides in Titahi Bay with his wife and their three-year-old daughter.