Iwi Ngāti Wai Position Pouwhakahaere What do you do at Te Puni Kōkiri? My role is to assist and support staff with tikanga, reo and cultural issues. I also work on issues in the community, and with our people. How long have you worked at Te Puni Kōkiri? Two years. How did you come to work for Te Puni Kōkiri? I had been working in the community with our people, including working as Cultural Advisor for Ngāti Wai Trust Board. More and more often when I was at hui, Daryn Bean (the then Te Puni Kōkiri Te Taitokerau Regional Director) was also there, and he asked if I was interested in continuing to work for my people but at Te Puni Kōkiri. What has been a memorable moment at Te Puni Kōkiri? There have been two: the Engaging Taitamariki in learning programme, which aims to lift education outcomes amongst our Taitamariki (also known as rangatahi). And the second is the apprenticeship programme, which is being developed in schools and links our young people to employment interests and opportunities. Personal interests I am interested in wāhi tapu and koiwi and how we care for these from a Māori perspective, particularly the practices that have been handed down to us from our tupuna. Favourite kai Kaimoana