Young Leaders Summit

31 May - 1 June 2019

The Young Leaders Summit In June 2019 in collaboration with Ngāti Mutunga and Te Atiawa Iwi and focused on 40 taiohi iwi members from each iwi.

The two-day summit was facilitated by Te Waka Ruapounamu McLeod and Ward Kamo and featured keynote speakers from across the country including local entrepreneur and founder of International Volunteer HQ Daniel Radcliffe who spoke about building one of the world’s leading volunteer travel companies. Jesse Armstrong spoke to an innovative technology to tell iwi stories. Jesse is the CEO of Vaka Interactive and has developed a product they call ‘Cultural Lens’. The product is an interactive digital portrait utilising animation to engage with patrons visiting museums and many of our taiohi were captured by his presentation.

A panel discussion followed that allowed participants to ask questions of some of our tribal leaders. The final keynote speaker of the day was Bentham Ohia who shared his cultural observations and experiences pertaining to his working career and personal life. He spoke about the importance of spiritual assistance and the significance of the ‘5 R’ formula representing Relationships, Responsibility, Reciprocity, Re-distribution and Respect. His son Tahuaroa then shared his experience living with autism. This showed leadership in a different light, leadership in the whānau and leadership that exhibits empathy, patience and self-belief.

Pio Terei led Day Two and challenged our taiohi on the importance of staying healthy in mind, body and spirit. The Summit was an opportunity to connect our future leaders to entrepreneurs, future thinkers and innovators, health and cultural motivators and iwi leadership. It was an opportunity to understand leadership roles as we look to grow our future leaders.