An introduction to governance for Pacific people

Panel Discussion

no longer available

Speaker(s): Caren Rangi
Date: 5:30pm — 8:00pm, 25 May 2021
Venue: The George
Location: 50 Park Terrace, Christchurch Central City
Price members: $20.00 incl GST
Price non-members: $20.00 incl GST

Overview

Keynote speaker, Caren Rangi will speak and then facilitate a panel discussion with Mele Wendt, Dr Kiki Maoate and Josiah Tualamali’i. Diversity on New Zealand boards is paramount and the Pacific community have much to offer. If you are interested in governance, but are not sure what you can do to move down this path, then join us to hear these experienced directors share their stories.

This event is supported by the Institute of Directors and the Ministry for Pacific Peoples.

Please note that by registering for this event you are providing permission for your details to be shared with MPP.

Panellists

Caren Rangi ONZM, FCA, MInstD

Caren Rangi of Hawkes Bay, New Zealand is a very proud Cook Islands Māori and an experienced governance practitioner. Caren is Chair of the Arts Council of New Zealand. She is also a board member for Radio New Zealand and Pacific Co-operation Broadcasting Ltd, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Pacific Homecare Services, and Pacific Inc Ltd. Caren is a board director of the Cook Islands Investment Corporation in Rarotonga, and in this role is leading work to develop professional board directors in the Cook Islands.

In 2015, Caren was conferred as a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. In 2016 she was awarded a New Zealander of the Year Local Hero Award for services to governance. In 2018 Caren was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to governance and the Pacific community, and was named as the Linden Estate Hawke’s Bay Business Leader of the Year.

Mele Wendt MNZM, MInstD

Mele Wendt has 17 years of leadership/management experience and 23 years of governance experience. Her roles have included being a high school teacher, the founding pacific islands liaison officer and manager of the student recruitment office at Victoria University of Wellington, and then the executive director of Fulbright New Zealand for ten years. In the last few years, Mele has been doing a mix of consultancy work and governance.

Mele currently serves on the boards of Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (The NZ Correspondence School) and the Wellington Community Trust. She also currently chairs the Steering Group which developed and launched the National Action Plan for Community Governance in 2020, and is overseeing its implementation. In the recent past Mele served as chair of Massey University's Pacific Student Success Working Group, and chair of the Pasifika Education Centre in Auckland.

Mele is a member of various professional and community groups and she is a White Ribbon Ambassador. In January 2019, Mele was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to governance, the Pacific community and women.

Mele is Samoan (Malie, Vaiala, Lefaga) and palagi (NZ, Britain), and lives in Wellington. She is married to Eteuati Ete and they have four grown-up children and three grandchildren.

Dr Kiki Maoate ONZM, FRACS, MInstD

The scope of Kiki Maoate’s work and influence extends throughout New Zealand and the Pacific region. A Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Kiki is one of New Zealand’s leading paediatric surgeons and paediatric urologists, based at Christchurch Hospital. He has helped to develop the paediatric outreach clinical services in New Zealand and throughout the Pacific region.

Kiki plays a leading role in postgraduate surgical training and mentoring for students in the Pacific region as well as for Pacific students in New Zealand. Kiki is an advisor to Ministries and Governments in New Zealand and the Pacific, and has served on numerous committees and boards.

He is the President of the Pasifika Medical Association, Chair of the Pasifika Futures Board, a member and strong supporter of the Pacific Island Surgeons Association, and is the Chair of the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs Ministerial Advisory Committee.

Josiah Tualamali’i MInstD

Josiah is 26 years old, Samoan Pākehā and one of the five Tualamali'i boys who grew up in ōtepoti & ōtautahi. Following a trip to Samoa at 14 years old Josiah applied for and participated in the first Pacific Youth Parliament in ōtautahi. This fono ignited a small group of participants to found the Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation Trust (PYLAT) to empower Pacific youth voice in all worlds. PYLAT's journey was his first experience of governance, and in the context of the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes saw him and the other youth board members advocating for a new commitment to hear Pacific youth voices in the rebuild and recovery. At 18 he became the chair, and shortly afterwards was appointed to the board of Pacific wellbeing NGO Le Va.

Josiah had his first government board appointment in 2018 when he was selected to be one of the panel members of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addictions. While being a full board member, he was also looked at to ensure young people’s voices were heard in the work of the inquiry. He has a degree in History and Politics from Canterbury University (2019). He is currently on six boards, a lived experience consultant to UK mental health and wellbeing organisation the Wellcome Trust, is one of the two independent youth reviewers for the Lancet Commission on Depression, and contracts across government to empower Pacific peoples’ perspectives in decision making in Aotearoa.

Additional information

COVID-19

We have been monitoring government updates regarding COVID-19 and are keeping up to date with Ministry of Health guidance with regard to events and public gatherings.

For the latest updates on face to face courses and our safety planning see our response to COVID-19 page