One of our most experienced and senior Māori Clinical Psychologists in Aotearoa, Lisa has worked across sectors in a range of roles. Lisa has worked in Kaupapa Māori mental health services in Palmerston North and Wellington; created and taught the third year ‘Indigenous Psychology in Aotearoa’ paper at Victoria University; and has contributed to cultural and clinical supervision for range of organisations including Corrections, Central Primary Health Organisation, and Te Tihi o Ruahine Whānau Ora Alliance. Especially meaningful to Lisa is her mahi in the psycho-oncology area and the creating and writing of therapeutic programmes for Māori. Across all roles, Lisa is driven by her passion for working with tamariki and rangatahi and utilising narrative therapy deriving from our mātauranga Māori knowledge base.

Truly embodying what has been a large part of Lisa’s mahi in recent years – Whānau Ora - Lisa brings her whole self to her mahi as a Clinical Psychologist.  More recently, Lisa has been working at Te Kurahuna, utilising Mahi a Atua and pūrākau to indigenise spaces and address racism.

Her devoted Māmā self – who seeks to inspire her two boys to reach for the stars in all they do; her award-winning creative storyteller self - who reflects back to us our diverse stories as Māori; and her Iron Māori Toa endurance athlete self – who constantly shows us what courage looks like in its most authentic of forms. Lisa brings us all of these; revealing leadership does not exist in just one form or space. Leadership is about drawing all our selves together; casting light for others to follow across many pathways.