Leaders engaged in this field of work are focussed on changing the paradigms of health to align with Māori health views and cultural practices to improve engagement with services and support for Māori.
Riki is most passionate about seeing more Māori enter careers in the health workforce. He strongly believes this will add to the necessary intelligence and capability the system requires to perform more effectively for whānau.
Emeritus Professor John Broughton has dedicated over 30 years to Māori oral health, injury prevention, and Kaupapa Māori research methods. In recognition of his services to Māori health, theatre, and the community, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2016.
Maria is an accomplished Māori health leader and clinical social worker dedicated to advancing mental health and addictions services for Māori and Pacific communities.
Waikato/Tainui, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa
Mau Te Rangimarie Clark is an emerging Māori health researcher dedicated to challenging systemic inequities in mental health and improving healthcare for Māori.
Dr Maira Patu is a Māori health advocate, educator, and clinician, dedicated to transforming Aotearoa’s healthcare landscape through kaupapa Māori approaches.
I te taha o tōku whaea ko Ngātokimatawhaorua te waka
Ko Hokianga nui a Kupe te moana.
Ko ōku maunga karangaranga ko Rakautapu me Whiria.
Ko Te Rarawa, me Ngāpuhi ngā iwi
Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne ki Wairarapa, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Maniapoto, Ngāti Hauā, Kai Tahu
Dr. Christine Ngā Hau Elers is a respected researcher, evaluator, and educator who is unwaveringly committed to advancing Hauora Māori and promoting equity within Aotearoa's health system.
Dr. Simon Te Manihi Bennett is a distinguished clinical psychologist and academic dedicated to enhancing Māori mental health through culturally responsive therapeutic practices and education.
Carleen Heemi plays a pivotal role in her community as a Speech and Language Therapist, advocate for normalising Te Reo Māori and seeing all those around her reach their full potential.
He has extensive experience in crisis resolution, forensic, adult, child, and youth inpatient services, focusing on reducing restraint and seclusion incidents for Māori.
Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kāwa, Ati Haunui A Pāpārangi, Ngāti Pāmoana
Gilbert Taurua is deeply passionate about using a Māori perspective in law reform concerning health, justice, inequality, and prisons. Gilbert has extensive experience in Treaty of Waitangi principles, Whānau Ora, their application to health pathways, Te Reo Māori, Tikanga, and government processes.
Kirimatao Paipa has gained a wealth of knowledge and skills from her decades of work as a family violence practitioner, Kaupapa Māori researcher, and evaluator.
Throughout her career in health, she has also focused on uplifting the smokefree sector in Manawatu by supporting whānau, particularly wahine and māmā, in becoming smokefree.
Ngati Awa, Te Whānau -ā- Apanui, Ngāti Rangihouhiri
Ariana is known and respected for her dedication to whānau through her advocacy for social justice and social change in stopping violence against women and children.
Pania Coote is a highly skilled and visionary leader in the health and community sectors, renowned for her strategy expertise and for addressing health inequities.
She has spent the last 30 years working in the health and disability sector, specialising in mental health, addiction, and public health, covering clinical and leadership roles.
Having personally experienced severe addiction and depression, anxiety, homelessness, incarceration, and Chris is now dedicated to supporting others struggling with drug and alcohol dependency an addictions practitioner and creative therapy consultant.
Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Ruanui
Tuhakia is committed to supporting initiatives engaged in developing Māori communities with a passion for health, building the workforce, and sharing the value of Te Ao Māori.
Maria Ngawati has always been dedicated to increasing opportunities within her community in several ways. She believes you can achieve change by using many tools and cross-sector relationships.
Dr Joanna Hikaka is a clinical pharmacist and health researcher focusing on equitable access to health services for Māori and developing anti-racist health services.
Egan Bidois advocates for users of mental health services and is passionate about helping those in their most vulnerable times. He believes it is a blessing to assist those experiencing times of mental distress.
Leilani Maraku develops and delivers Kaupapa Māori Mental Health & Addiction peer support services throughout the Manawatū region for adults, youth, and their whānau.
Te Rangimaria passion arises from his lived experience of addiction and the importance of including Māori cultural imperatives in delivering addiction support services in our communities.
Selina Elkington is a leading Māori addiction practitioner whose mahi is dedicated to improving the impact of systemic inequities on Māori communities.
Dr. Teah Carlson is a Kaupapa Māori researcher and evaluator dedicated to shifting power back to whānau and communities regarding the design and delivery of health services, workforce development, governance, qualitative methods, strategy, and evaluation
Dr Rawiri McKree Jansen's mahi in hauora Māori, at both grassroots and national levels, speaks volumes about his passion for improving equity within New Zealand's health system.
Dr. Rees Tapsell has been involved in developing several Māori specific approaches to the provision of mental health care for Māori in both government and NGO settings for more than 30 years.
Ngāti Whātua, Waikato, Ngāti Koata, Te Atiawa, Manx
Sarah Kinred is a trained teacher with over 20 years of experience teaching and creating programs for students. Sarah also has over ten years of experience working as a Mātauranga Māori specialist within mental health and addictions, and she is committed to ensuring that tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake is paramount for Māori, especially when engaging in the health system.
Ruahine Albert is passionate about social justice and works in local, national, and international government and community services to improve the well-being of survivors of violence.
Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Paora firmly believes in using traditional sites of significance as authentic connections for positive individual and collective transformation and Whakapapa as pathways to optimum health and well-being.
Horiana Williams has worked in the health sector for over ten years, supporting various businesses and organisations in quality and compliance, foundation assessments, contract reporting, strategic planning, and governance.
Grant Berghan specialises in Māori development and possesses extensive experience in policy, programme development, funding, leadership development and public health in Aotearoa.
Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi, Te Whānau a Āpanui, Whakatōhea, , Ngati Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata
Gloria Sheridan, first and foremost, is a Māori wāhine, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, and mokopuna with strong connections to Te Tairāwhiti. She is passionate about advocating equity and choice for Māori to counter the ideologies of the current Western medical system
Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato-Tainui
Diane Koti is an expert in Indigenous development, Kaupapa development, Kaupapa Māori Research, psychology, and mental health. She is a passionate leader who works for fair, holistic, and whānau-centred health outcomes.
Coral Wiapo is dedicated to making significant contributions to improve Māori healthcare. She is passionate about developing the necessary skills, knowledge, and expertise to support the development of the nursing workforce to be able to respond to the needs of Māori. Coral recognises the intersectionality of being wahine Māori, a nurse and a lesbian and strives to give visibility to the strengths that are inherent within this.
From a young age, Chloe Fergusson-Tibble aspired to become a doctor. Throughout her studies, she maintains a steadfast commitment to incorporating Māori healthcare approaches by staying connected to her whakapapa.
Growing up with Te Reo as her first language and through kōhanga reo and kura Kaupapa, Aroha believes health interventions are already within pūrākau and traditional Māori practices.
For the past three decades, Awerangi Tamihere (MNZM) has dedicated her career to strategic health planning, organisational development, and the reform of social policies, with a primary emphasis on whānau development.
Professor Terryann Clark specialises in youth health, mental health, nursing, public health, and the well-being of tamariki me taitamariki. Her dedication lies in advocating for the health and welfare of taitamariki/rangatahi through extensive research and advocacy across various health and social concerns.
Andrew Waa is a public health academic whose research work has focussed on how we can eliminate tobacco-related harm among whānau Māori and achieve a Tupeka Kore vision for Aotearoa.
Kerri Butler is experienced in supporting and leading programmes around mental health first response and restrictive practice intervention. She sees mental health work as an opportunity to "make a difference in a field that she is passionate about."
Kingi Kiriona is an orator, a kapa haka exponent, composer, educator, and broadcaster. His observation of Te Reo Māori and Te Ao Māori as a tool for improving the health and well-being of iwi and Māori communities has driven Kingi to realise opportunities for Māori language and culture to be shared, embedded, and recognised through the health system.
Adele Hauwai is a mentor and facilitator who strongly focuses on supporting and contributing to mental health, well-being, and suicide prevention work.
Almost twenty years later, Alexander has used his passion and knowledge of addressing historical sexual violence trauma, mental illness, addictions, and well-being to support Māori and Pacific communities across Aotearoa, where he has worked with over 3,500 men with childhood experiences of sexual violence.
Professor Jonathan Koea is an Auckland-based general surgeon who specialises in the health of the liver, gallbladder, stomach, pancreas, and gastrointestinal tract.
Shaquille Graham is passionate about the health, well-being and hauora of Māori. He works to improve Aotearoa and tangata Māori through research into the well-being issues and inequalities that communities in Aotearoa face.
Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Arawa, Ngāti Tukorehe, Rongowhakaata, Tūwharetoa
Patrick Salmon is an advocate and public voice for ways to share and uphold the well-being of Māori in modern-day society. He uses his creative skills and innovative thinking to develop solutions that support the oranga aspirations of a person's life journey.
Sir Mark Wiremu Solomon is widely known for his commitment and contribution to his iwi and the broader well-being of all New Zealanders and the environment. In addition, he is recognised for the attention he has brought to addressing family violence.
Kiri's interests are Te Taiao (nature), hauora Māori, mental health, Māori philosophy, education, and law. These feature prominently in her teaching with medical students, psychiatry registrars and other health professionals, and the educational videos that Kiri creates for her YouTube channel and website titled Māori Minds.
In 2022, Joanne was appointed the first wāhine Māori Dean of the Dunedin School of Medicine. Working for over 20 years in the Dunedin School of Medicine, Joanne has shown that she is committed to making a real difference in education and health for individuals, whānau and communities through teaching, research, and service.
Jim is the current Kaihautū – Chief Executive Officer at Awarua Whānau Services, and he is the first Tane to lead the organisation (he has a 30-year history of Wahine Rangatira at the helm). It is a special honour to be given the opportunity to navigate the pathway forward alongside his Awarua Whanau Services team.
Dr Grace Hinepua Walker is a data scientist focusing on changing Indigenous narratives by producing data for Indigenous and minority groups as well as commercialising affordable diabetes management devices.
In her work, Genevieve is committed to bridging the inequity gap between Māori and non-Māori, particularly in secondary mental health services; she would also like to see Māori whanau overrepresented in education and underrepresented in all other negative statistics.
Carole is passionate about reducing inequalities and improving outcomes for tāngata motuhake and their whānau. She is seen as a taonga to her community and has made a measurable difference to people who have often been marginalised.
Te Rarawa, Ngā Puhi, Tainui, Ngāti Porou - Born in Auckland, raised in Hokianga
Since 2003, when Boyd Broughton began his career in health with Hāpai te Hauora, he has supported te ao Māori within health services through various roles in NGOs, government agencies, tertiary institutions, local councils, Marae Committees, and other community groups.
Atawhai's advice to young people is to do as many different things as possible to find your voice. "I started off doing law and kapa haka. I ended up in policy and economic measurement. I tried many things. I have landed where I was meant to be. Kia kaha tatou!"
Her work is focused on ensuring future health services are firmly underpinned by a kaupapa Māori approach, informed by mātauranga Māori and lived experience.
Aaryn Niuapu has a long history of strategically championing the voices of tāngata whai ora, whānau, and hāpori in mental health and addiction service design, delivery, and governance.
For many years now Andre has led kaupapa Māori based workforce development by contributing to the advancement of innovative and dynamic kaupapa Māori based therapeutic resources.
Tui Taurua-Peihopa is a fearless and influential leader within the tangata whaiora movement, dedicated to advocating for equity, dismantling stigma, and elevating the voices of those with lived exp
She is an inspirational leader of Māori development locally, regionally and nationally. She is renowned for her contribution to individuals, families, and communities. An educator, leader of innovation and best practice, a key advisor to the Health and Disability Commissioner, mediator, keynote speaker, author and songwriter.
Willie Jackson comes from a renowned family of activists who have worked tirelessly to advance the rights of poorly paid workers while exposing social injustice on many levels, using Māori matters as a touch stone.
