Tūhono – the Māori Public Service Network presents, He Wāhine Māori Ahau.

Building on from the inaugural Wāhine Māori hui in July 2021, this four-part online speaker series aims to share further learnings across the public service on topics and issues facing Wāhine Māori in the workplace. You’ll hear from senior Wāhine Māori public service leaders and get an insight into their career journeys within the public service.

In the fourth of this four-part series, Jaime Hayden sits down with our Kaikōrero to discuss the impacts of the past on women today.

You’ll have the opportunity to hear first-hand how these Wāhine leaders have navigated the impacts of the past on women today and ask questions in our live Q+A section.

About our facilitator

Jaime Hayden

Kaiārahi Kōtuitui (Engagement Lead), Manatū Wāhine

E ngā manu o ngā wao tapu o te motu, tēnā koutou katoa

He uri au ko Tūhoe, ko Ngāti Awa oku iwi
Ko Mataatua te waka
Ko Putauaki te maunga
Ko Rangitaiki te awa

Ā, ko Jaime Hayden toku ingoa

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari taku toa i te toa takitini

About our Speakers

Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro, GNZM, QSO

Governor - General of New Zealand

Dame Alcyion Cynthia (Cindy) Kiro was born in Whangārei, Northland, in 1958, the eldest of six children. She is of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu and British descent. She has a level of fluency in te reo Māori.

Dame Cindy completed her primary and secondary schooling in Auckland. She went on to be the first person in her family to achieve tertiary qualifications: a PhD in Social Policy and an MBA (Exec) in Business Administration.

Much of Dame Cindy’s career has been in the tertiary education sector, where she became a distinguished researcher held leadership roles at Massey University, Victoria University Wellington/Te Herenga Waka and the University of Auckland. While at the University of Auckland she was Director of the Starpath Project, which investigated the impacts of socio-economic status on educational achievement in New Zealand.

Her public sector roles have included Children’s Commissioner (the first woman and first Māori to be appointed to the role) membership of the Ministerial Cross-Sector Forum for the Ministry of Education, and Chair of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group.

Dame Cindy has had extensive experience in the public health sector, including a role as General Manager Funding and Services Planning and Māori Health for the Auckland District Health Board.

Dame Cindy has also devoted time to voluntary and community organisations, reflecting her personal interests in supporting children, young people and disadvantaged members of society. This has included work on reducing child poverty, environmental causes to protect the natural world and addressing family violence.

Prior to taking up her role as Governor-General, Dame Cindy was Chief Executive of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. Dame Cindy is the first Māori woman to be appointed as Governor-General.??Dame Cindy was appointed as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) for services to child wellbeing and education on the New Year 2021 Honours List.

Dame Cindy is married to Dr Richard Davies, a GP at a low-cost general practice attached to the Auckland City Mission. She is the mother of two sons, step-mother to two sons, grandmother to two grandsons, and has a wide extended family

Heather Baggott

Deputy Public Service Commissioner

Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission

Ko Tainui te waka

Ko Maniapoto te iwi

Ko Ngāti Rora te hapū

Nō Te Rohe Pōtae ahau

Ko Heather Baggott tōku ingoa.

Heather is Deputy Public Service Commissioner at Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission, working closely with the Public Service Commissioner to provide leadership and oversight of the Public Service. She has a particular focus on Māori-Crown relations and leadership, diversity and inclusion priorities for the system. She has held several senior leadership roles in service delivery and service transformation, working across agencies, with iwi/Māori, and with stakeholders in the justice and culture sectors, to improve services and outcomes for New Zealanders. A mother of two boys, Heather hails from rural King Country and affiliates to Maniapoto and Te Ātiawa. She is motivated by service to others, growing future leaders and creating inter-generational change that improves the lives of New Zealanders and achieves equity and inclusion for Aotearoa.

Melanie Mark-Shadbolt

Deputy Secretary Māori Rights & Interests

Ministry for the Environment

Melanie Mark-Shadbolt (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Ngāti Porou, Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Te Atiawa), is the Deputy Secretary Māori Rights & Interests at the Ministry for the Environment, and is a co-founder of Te Tira Whakamātaki, a Māori environmental not-for-profit and home of the Māori biosecurity network. Previously she was the Kaihautū Ngātahi Director Māori of New Zealand’s Biological Heritage National Science Challenge.

Melanie is an indigenous environmental advocate who specialises in understanding and applying mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) to biosecurity and biodiversity issues. She has a specific interest in decolonising ideologies of conservation and restoration in order to address injustices and harm caused to indigenous peoples and our planet. Her work has covered research in stakeholder values, attitudes and behaviours; social acceptability of management practices and risk communication; and the wider human dimensions of environmental health.

Melanie was 2021 Westpac Women of Influence Public Policy award winner, and a finalist in the 2019 Westpac Women of Influence Innovation, Science and Health category. Additionally her TTW team won the 2017 inaugural Dave Galloway Innovation Award (NZ Biosecurity Institute) and the 2017 inaugural Māori Biosecurity Award (MPI). In addition TTW researchers have won the; 2018 Biological Heritage Challenge Science Award (as part of the Scion Research team); 2018 AsureQuality Emerging Leader Award (Dr Amanda Black, co-founder); 2019 Bio-Protection Research Centre Science Award (as part of the Myrtle Rust Research Consortium); 2020 AsureQuality Emerging Leader Award (Tame Malcolm, GM) - at the NZ Biosecurity Awards (MPI)

Melanie currently serves on the board of Project Crimson, the board of Tāpui Aotearoa, B3 Better Border Biosecurity’s Collaboration Council, the Kauri Dieback & Myrtle Rust Knowledge Advisory Group (KAG), the Wallaby eradication governance group, and a number of research programmes advisory panels / kāhui.

She is dedicated to working with organisations who are committed to meeting their Treaty responsibilities, and addressing indigenous rights and racial equity.

About Tūhono

Tūhono is a network for those interested in growing Māori potential and success through Partnership oriented, Kaupapa aligned, Public Services.

To join the Tūhono network, please click here.

He Wāhine Māori Ahau 4: The impacts of the past on women today