Moana Maniapoto (Co-convenor) (Te Arawa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is a singer, songwriter, documentary maker, journalist and Art Laureate. A long-time advocate for te reo music, she was a co-founder of the Māori Music Industry Coalition and was inducted into the 2016 NZ Music Hall of Fame (APRA-Amcos). Moana is a trustee of Toi Iho, a registered and globally recognised trademark of quality and authenticity of Māori art and artists. The Māori Made Mark is acknowledged as an exceptional cultural initiative by-and-for Māori by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in Geneva. Between 2019-2020, Moana was appointed to the South East Asia Advisory Committee by the Taiwan Minister of Culture. Her internationally feted documentary on intellectual property and mātauranga Māori, Guarding the Family Silver, was produced in response to the trade marking of her name by a German company. That experience led to her providing evidence in both the Wai 262 and Wai 2252 claims, where she was a claimant. Moana also travelled Japan to speak to union, peace, activist and student groups about Indigenous concerns around the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). Her recent documentary portrait Moana Jackson: Portrait of a Quiet Revolutionary explored the genesis of Māori participation in the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and documented the lead-up to Matike Mai. Moana is the associate producer, host and journalist for the award-winning current affairs show Te Ao with Moana on Whakaata Māori. She graduated from University of Auckland with an LLB and in 2019 was made a Distinguished Alumni.

Ko Mōtatau te marae, ko Ngāti Te Tārawa te hapū, ko Ngāti Hine te iwi. Ka papā te whatititiri, ka hikohiko te uira, ka wahierua ki runga o Mōtatau, e tū ana i te ao, i te pō, ō Hikurangi, ngā kiekie whawhanui a Uenuku. Ko Taumārere te awa, ko te puna i Keteriki, Keteriki, Kete Tangariki, ko Ngāti Hine Pukepukerau.

Pita Tipene (Co-convenor) was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mōtatau in the inland Bay of Islands. He and his wife Sara and their whānau, including six mokopuna, now live in Kawakawa. He holds a number of governance roles within his iwi of Ngāti Hine as well as local, regional and national roles. For instance, he is chair of the Mōtatau Marae and chair of the Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust. Pita sits on Te Kahu o Taonui (Taitokerau Iwi Chairs Forum) representing Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hine. Consequently, he also represents Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hine at the National Iwi Chairs Forum. Pita is also the chair of the Waitangi National Trust having been a trustee since 2016. One of his other national roles is as chair of the Mānuka Charitable Trust that has the responsibility of maintaining and enhancing the intellectual property of mānuka in the global market. Pita was a claimant in the Waitangi Tribunal claim on the TPPA (Wai 2522). He has a passion for upholding He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi and, like many, looks to kōrero by Kawiti to motivate him in his work as part of Ngā Toki Whakarururanga.

“Waiho kia kakati te namu i te whārangi o te pukapuka, ko rēira, ka tahuri atu ai!”

Donna Kerridge (Ngāti Tahinga and Ngāti Mahuta) is the founder and director of Ora New Zealand. She serves as member of the Accident Compensation Corporation’s Rongoā Advisory Panel and is the principal advisor and contracted negotiator for Te Kāhui Rongoā, the national collective of rongoā Māori healers, with the Ministry of Health. Donna also provides advisory services to a number of universities, research, professional and private training organisations and has served on a number of government expert advisory groups representing the practice of rongoā. Donna looks forward to the day when these functions are no longer required because mātauranga Māori will be so imbedded in all that we do here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Then she can return to the quiet life of making rongoā, ministering to whānau and running the odd rongoā training programme to support the next generation of healers – her retirement plan!

Dr George Laking (Te Whakatōhea) is a medical oncologist at Te Pūriri o Te Ora Northern Regional Cancer and Blood Service where he is helping to develop a community-based model of cancer care. His other roles include Director of Te Aka Mātauranga Matepukupu, the Centre for Cancer Research at the University of Auckland, and Medical Director of the Cancer Society of New Zealand. His previous roles included chair of Te ORA (the Māori Medical Practitioners’ Association), Aotearoa New Zealand President in the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and member of PHARMAC’s Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee. George is an executive board member of OraTaiao, the New Zealand Climate and Health Council. During the TPPA negotiations he played a key role in Doctors for Healthy Trade. His PhD thesis was written on the economic meaning of diagnosis.

India Logan-Riley (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Ngāti Hawea, Rongomaiwahine and Rangitāne) is the Climate Justice Organiser at ActionStation and a community researcher for the research project, Generation Kāinga. They bring a background in Māori heritage spaces and lived experience of climate injustice to their mahi in a broad range of areas from United Nations climate negotiations to harakeke roots work on #LandBack kaupapa with rangatahi Māori and Pasifika. India dreams of resilient communities where everyone is safe and joyful, and is excited for Ngā Toki Whakarururanga to be a part of bringing that vision into reality.

Potaua Biasiny-Tule (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Whakatōhea and Niue) is a passionate Māori IT advocate who has worked in the digital industry for over 20 years. Along with his wife Nikolasa, they have supported the next generation of digital Māori leaders with the establishment of Digital Natives Academy (DNA) in Rotorua, building a connected Māori ecosystem across Aotearoa New Zealand and the world. Potaua has a political science degree from Canterbury University and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Māori Development from Waikato University where he lectured in the School of Business and Management. Potaua served on the Ministerial Advisory Board for Digital Inclusion and Digital Economy in 2018 under Hon. Minister Claire Curran. He is currently a board member of InternetNZ, chairing its Te Komiti Whakauru Māori sub-committee, and between 2013-2022 sat on the Rotorua Lakes Council as a Te Arawa representative. He is also a Trustee for Te Takinga Marae.

Jessica Hutchings (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Huirapa and Gujarati) is nationally and internationally recognised as a leader in Indigenous food systems and Māori food and soil sovereignty. Dr Hutchings also holds a range of governance and leadership roles in the science sector, including on the Science Board at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges National Science Challenge and is a founding Trustee of the Papawhakaritorito Charitable Trust that works to uplift Māori kai and soil sovereignty and hua parakore (Māori organics) through research, development and community practice. She lives on 12 acres and is a hua parakore verified whānau food grower. Jessica is also a widely published author, including recent books, Te Mahi Oneone Hua Parakore: A Māori Soil Sovereignty and Wellbeing Handbook (Freerange Press 2020), and Te Mahi Māra Hua Parakore: A Māori Food Sovereignty Handbook (Te Tākupu, 2015). Dr Hutchings has been working at the crossroads of Indigenous knowledge, whānau and environmental wellbeing for the last three decades and is passionate about Indigenous social justice and self-determination.

 

Michelle Paki (Ngāti Porou and Rongowhakaata) is a passionate advocate for Māori business and Māori economic development. Over the years, Michelle has supported many Māori businesses in her role as Manager of the Te Puni Kōkiri Māori Business Facilitation Service, and later through her role as Principal Regional Advisor for the Regional Economic Development unit at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. In 2020, just before lockdown, Michelle created the Buy Māori Made Facebook group, which is a growing platform supporting Māori businesses to promote their products and services, across a range of sectors. The group has grown to a community of 170,000 members, with many Māori businesses making this their ‘go-to’ platform for showcasing their products. Michelle believes that investment into Māori small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will make a huge impact on accelerating the growth of the Māori economy and an economy of mana. Michelle is acutely aware of the challenges that Māori businesses face, but also the opportunities this can bring for whānau. Through her work she has seen how Māori SMEs contribute to hauora and transmission of mātauranga Māori, te reo Māori and so much more. This drives her to continue to push the boundaries and challenge the status quo to change the way we think about investing in Māori SMEs. Michelle hails from Te Tairāwhiti; her Ngāti Porou and Rongowhakaata roots keeping her grounded and humble in her mahi. She is the married with three tamariki, and currently lives in Kirikiriroa Hamilton. She holds a B.Soc.Sci ( Hons), MMPD (University of Waikato), and Grad Dip Economic Development (AUT).

Julie Paama-Pengelly (Ngāi Tuwhiwhia, Ngāi Tauaiti, Ngāti Tapu and Ngāi te Rangi) is an artist and champion of Māori arts who enjoys working on her own art with a vision for the big picture stuff with respect to Māori development. Over thirty years ago, she was the first wāhine in the tā moko revival space. Julie actively advocates, educates and practices across a range of tools from her tā moko studio, Art + Body, and exhibits her works both nationally and overseas. Julie chairs Te Tuhi Mareikura Trust which leads Tauranga Moana Māori arts development through a number of initiatives, which includes the successful annual Toi Kiri: World International Indigenous Tatau Festival 2022. Julie has a MMVA (Hons) and MPhil (Dev Studies).

Peter-Lucas Kaaka Jones (Te Aupōuri, Ngāi Takoto, Te Rarawa, and Ngāti Kahu) was born and raised in Kaitaia and is the Chief Executive Officer of Te Hiku Media, an iwi organisation owned by the five iwi of the Far North. With an extensive background in broadcasting, media governance, and kaitiakitanga of radio data, Peter-Lucas is at the forefront of an innovative initiative to revitalise te reo Māori utilising AI technology. Te Hiku Media’s development of their own Kaitiakitanga License allows for the responsible use of Māori data from a haukāinga standpoint. Peter-Lucas is also Chair of Te Whakaruruhau o Ngā Reo Irirangi Māori (The Iwi Radio Network) and Deputy Chair of Whakaata Māori.