Te Ara Pōtiki: Connecting Māori scientists to Global Innovation

In an age where diversity is often linked to creativity and success in teams and companies, indigenous talent and indeed our science is often overlooked. I'm proud of my Māori heritage and even more so of the amazing accomplishments in so many fields by our Tūpuna (ancestors). Consider this - despite over 180 years of colonizing impacts, the Māori people have proven to be resilient and resourceful in maintaining and growing our culture and customs, language and People. Creating Māori language schools which are world renowned for rebirthing Te Reo (the language), self-determining programs for health and wellbeing, protecting and growing our natural resources in the face of climate impact, fighting for recognition of indigenous (and Treaty) rights leading to restitution and reconciliation without violence, pursuing cultural and political self-determination and emerging as one of the key pillars of the New Zealand economy - Māori are a force for the 21st century and beyond - and not just in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Nowhere is this more evident than in the talent of our young population.

Te Ara Pōtiki is a non-profit Foundation I have helped found with Francene Wineti and Dean Tilyard to bring the best Māori talent in STEM fields to create internships for mutual knowledge exchange and growth, through placement at technology startups and scaling businesses in the USA, and beyond. (More on the origins of the name in a future post). My fellow trustees share a vision of encouraging curiosity, innovation and the desire to give back to our next generation of leaders. We have been fortunate to enjoy huge support in establishing Te Ara Pōtiki and I want to acknowledge the partnership and support of the New Zealand government via Nathan Hobrough and Willy-John Martin at Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

I'm excited to build on the many relationships in VC and technology, especially in the Agrifood domain, to forge connections to partner companies excited to engage in knowledge and cultural exchange. Our team will carefully source and select outstanding interns with advanced qualifications and experience, to work for short term assignments at companies interested in working with us and our community. Our candidates span disciplines including applied science, software engineering & data science, technical business disciplines and automation, robotics and hardware engineering. We are looking for partnerships with companies interested in an internship for up to 3 months, and will be supported by our Foundation with visa advice, travel expenses and pastoral care.

It is with great humility and pride that we look to build stronger relationships between our cultures and people, allied to the understanding arising from the famous proverb "He aha to mea nui o te Ao? He Tāngata,"! Or to translate, "What is the most important thing in the world? It is People"

Reach out to our Executive Director, Ms. Tui Te Hau at our website or to me on Linked in.

Ngā mihi nui

Arama