Taurua Grant - stepping into governance

Background

I’ve always been a numbers’ person.

I studied chemistry and finance at Otago University. Chemistry is formulas based, just like finance. My first real job was as a patent examiner at the Intellectual Property Office in Wellington, focussed on chemistry-related patent applications. Like many people in my generation, I got itchy feet and headed off to the UK with my partner (who is now my wife) for the great OE. While overseas we spent six months in Ireland, spending time with her Irish family (her mother is Irish). It was very special to spend that time with them. We travelled to the UK via South America and came back home via Africa. I feel lucky to have been afforded the experience both professionally and personally – especially when I consider that OEs may not even exist anymore with the emergence of Covid-19.

When we got back to Aotearoa I did some postgraduate study in finance, then re-entered the workforce in the financial markets. I spent the next 10 years working in the banking and commercial sectors including in senior roles at BNZ and Bancorp Treasury.

Coming home

In 2017 we moved back to my ūkaipō — my hometown of Rotorua — where my iwi, Ngāti Whakaue, is based. We’d also just had our second set of twins which was a pretty strong motivation to come home for family support. It was also important for me that our four girls could start to immerse themselves in their Māori culture – to hear the language, to be at their marae, and just be…Ngāti Whakaue.

Once back home, I started to think about how I could contribute to my iwi. From a young age I knew I wanted to contribute so it was more a matter of deciding how. Some contribute by helping at the marae, some by supporting our kapa haka, some by being the paepae (spokespeople on the marae), some by advocating for key kaupapa/issues. For me, I’d built up a robust set of skills in commercial sectors over 12 years both in Aotearoa and the UK so I saw working for a Ngāti Whakaue commercial entity as a great first opportunity for me to contribute. In 2019 I was fortunate to get a role as the inaugural Te Manahautū (CEO) at Ngāti Whakaue Assets Trust.

Ngāti Whakaue Assets Trust (“the Trust”)

The purpose of the Trust is to grow and distribute Ngāti Whakaue’s settlement funds from the Central North Island (“CNI”) Forests Collective Settlement.

We’re a relatively young entity in the settlement space. We were established in 2009 and I’m the first CEO to be appointed by the board. We have four great trustees, and I work closely with them.

Before I was appointed, the key focus of the Trust was growing the asset base. I am charged with supporting the continued growth of our assets, but also focussing on how we can efficiently distribute meaningful returns to the iwi. We have a small balance sheet and so we must be smart and deliberate in how we do this.

Our distribution strategy has moved away from a cash grants' model to standing up initiatives for our iwi. We assess what the needs of our iwi are, and what role we can play to support those needs, with consideration to what existing initiatives are out there so that we aren’t duplicating unnecessarily.

As an example, we worked with Te Puni Kōkiri and Sorted Kāinga Ora to deliver a financial literacy programme aimed at helping our māmā (mothers) to develop healthier financial habits and empower them to achieve their financial goals. This was the first time the programme had been specifically run for māmā. We had decided on this as we were aware of the key roles our māmā play in managing the household finances, educating the tamariki (children) and influencing household behaviours (such as budgeting and spending). We have had great feedback from our māmā and their whānau.

Te Reo Māori

Te reo Māori has always been important to me. Its integral to who we are as Māori. I lead a boutique consulting company, Reo Whairawa Limited, focussed on projects and initiatives that promote the use of te reo Māori in the business sector. Again, based on my skillset and experience, I saw the commercial sector as a way that I could contribute to Māoridom. We run ‘Kura Reo Pakihi’, a unique two-day, marae-based programme designed to support accounting and business professionals to learn the Māori language and cultural customs (te reo Māori me ngā tikanga) for use in the workplace. It’s been running for three years now, and its great to see the spread of organisations attending, from commercial banks to the RBNZ, accounting firms and their national body CAANZ, as well as fund managers, management consultants and iwi entities. It’s about growing the use of te reo Māori, not competition.

What governance means to me

I see governance as a way to use my skills to make positive change for an organisation or community. Observing the trustees on Ngāti Whakaue Assets Trust, I see that they need to develop governance strategies that balance the delivery of returns now and for future generations. They look at a multi-generational horizon, and the need to generate sustainable returns.

They say that good governance is diversity of thought and experience and values. I have built up my skillset and experiences here and abroad and believe I have something to offer the governance space, but I first need to build my governance skillset to equip myself for that eventual transition into governance.

The award

As part of the award I’ll be joining the IoD BoP branch committee and Miro Berries as a non-voting board member.

With the IoD Committee, I’m looking forward to new connections, and supporting the great work that they do in the Bay of Plenty.

With Miro Berries there are some really experienced directors, with varied backgrounds and across different sectors, so I’m really looking forward to learning under them. What also excited me was the fact that there are a mixture of Māori and non-Māori directors on the board. I’m interested to see how these different perspectives weave together to create positive outcomes for the business.

“Kia raka te mauī, kia raka te matau.”

The right hand is adept, the left hand is skilful. This whakataukī was said of a person who is equally skilled at using weaponry in either hand. I want to be well-rounded as a director. I want to learn different approaches to governance, take in different perspectives, and discover which methodologies and practices work best for me, to optimise what I can offer in return.

The Bay of Plenty branch’s Te Moana a Toi – Kaitohu-Taura, Aspiring Māori Director award 2022, was sponsored by Toi Ohamai Institue of Technology.

Award sponsored by