About

Tribal Affiliations: Waitaha, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Arawa.

Te Miria is currently self-employed in the area of health and wellbeing and is passionate about supporting people to improve their quality of life for themselves and their whānau.

She has a wealth of experience in supporting non-Māori organisations to improve Māori outcomes through the implementation of the Treaty of Waitangi. She spent 10yrs in the Ministry of Health (MoH) as the Strategic Advisor Māori public Health and was a member of both the Senior Management Team and Senior Leaderships groups for the Public Health and Systems strategy Directorates

Te Miria has designed tools to assist with improving Māori health outcomes.  The ‘Whānau Ora’ tool and ‘Whakaritenga Mahi’.  Both tools recognises the validity of Māori approaches to achieving whānau ora and are designed to assist general organisations to implement the  strategic pathways woven through He Korowai Oranga (NZ Maori Health Strategy 2002).

She has experience in community and people development, Senior Management, Māori Policy Development, People Centred and culturally appropriate Services.

Natalie is currently the Manager of the Auckland Airport Community Trust, General Manager of Nga Tangata Microfinance and a founding Trustee of Littlemore Trust, with many years experience in the not-for-profit sector. She has a degree in Educational Psychology and a background in early childhood education, having worked in this field both in New Zealand and overseas. Natalie has a passion for social justice, collaborative community led development and working to enable communities and families reach their goals. She is a mother of two adult children and proud to be part of the E Tipu E Rea Whānau team.

Charlene Fitisemanu joins the board with over 14 years experience working with international and local NGO’s and charities.

Charlene has developed her career around acting on her passion to drive positive impacts in our communities and for our environment.

She currently works at Oxfam NZ as the Corporate Relationship Manager, and brings experience in corporate social responsibility, sponsorship and partnerships, sustainability and project engagement.

Having been a young parent herself and knowing firsthand the challenges faced, Charlene is excited at the opportunity presented by E Tipu E Rea Whānau Services. She has a particular interest in supporting young parents into opportunities to ensure they have a positive future for themselves and their tamariki.