Tuakana Teina chair mentoring programme

To support the vision for all community organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand to be well governed, Community Governance NZ and the Institute of Directors (IoD) have formed a new partnership. This collaboration aims to strengthen and support the community governance sector with best practice expertise of the IoD.

Programme details

We are offering a mentoring opportunity for 25 teina (mentee) chairs to deepen their leadership in a structured, supportive environment through connection with an experienced tuakana (mentor) chair.

• Are you currently the chair of an eligible community organisation who would like to improve your governance capability?
• Would you like to connect with a well-established chair who can share their experience and insights?
• Do you want to focus on the unique challenges of community governance?
• Would you like to build your networks in a supportive environment with other leaders in the community sector?

The concept of Tuakana Teina is a Māori values-based principle of ako (two-way learning), which draws upon shared experience, knowledge and support.

Successful teina (mentees) will be matched with an established community board chair tuakana (mentor) for a 10-month programme of one-to-one mentoring (usually six to seven sessions).

Mentoring sessions will be enhanced through a number of online and in-person events to connect with the other teina (mentees) in the programme and hear from governance experts on relevant topics.

Teina (mentees) will also receive complimentary access to the online IoD Governance Essentials and Finance Essentials training programmes during the programme period (a value of $1188 per person).

Programme launch

To launch the programme, we are privileged to have five inaugural chairs with vast experience across the community sector who will be participating tuakana (mentors): Alan Isaac, Dame Kerry Prendergast, Mele Wendt, Prabha Ravi and Rawiri Bhana.

We are holding a launch event online at 12.00pm on Thursday 21 October – join us to hear from our inaugural tuakana and find out more about how the programme will work.

Application information

Applicants should:

• currently hold the chair position for a community organisation (including NFPs, charities, NGOs and community groups) with Tier 3 or 4 status as defined by Charities Services
• have been in a chair role for fewer than two-years
• have at least one-year of tenure remaining in that role
• be open to learning and sharing their governance experience
• Teina (mentees) can be based anywhere in New Zealand but should be willing and able to travel to two collaboration sessions in a main centre (Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch) during the year (dates and locations TBC).

Applications open Thursday 21 October 2021 and close 5pm on Thursday 18 November 2021.

FAQ & Terms and conditions