E rau Rangatira mā, he karere tēnei ki te motu – nau mai haere mai e te uri o Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Whātua hoki; nau mai ōu pūmanawa, nau mai ōu pūkenga kia whakapakari ai te kaupapa o Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust.

The Directors of Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust are proud to announce the appointment of Te Puoho Katene (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Whātua) as Kaihautū (Executive Director) of the Trust. Te Puoho comes to the Trust with a comprehensive background in science, commercial and investment strategy, governance, relationship management across iwi and government, impact investment and social enterprise.

Te Puoho, a graduate of Stanford Business School and Fulbright Scholar, joins the Trust from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, where he held the role of Māori Investment Manager. He is a Trustee for the Ākina Foundation, an Independent Director of Wakatū Incorporation and a Trustee of Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) Foundation. His role as an Obama Foundation Leader for the Asia-Pacific region has given him a global outlook on leveraging global best practice within an indigenous, values-based lens.

Te Puoho is steadfast in his pursuit for holistic prosperity for Māori and believes that social investment is key for driving transformational outcomes.

“I hold fast to the whakatauākī that money is like a kumara; its only value lies in its ability to feed people. Social and impact investment is a key pathway for Māori to leverage our hard-earned assets and resources to drive prosperity for our people.” Says Katene.

“Along with the skill and experience in the social impact space, Te Puoho brings with him a humility and a relational approach that we as a Trust value deeply. We have the privilege of leveraging all of his global and indigenous leadership experiences into our localised and innovative programme of work that is in service to the sustenance of Māori identity. We welcome Te Puoho and his whānau into the Trust and look forward to continuing to grow and strengthen the Trust’s contribution to our whānau, hapū, iwi, our Māori organisations, and Te Kāhui o Te Ohu Kaimoana.” says Kate Cherrington, Chair of Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust.

Te Puoho believes that Te Pūtea Whakatupu is well-positioned to drive targeted social change within a tikanga-based impact framework and achieve a true national leadership role in growing and guiding philanthropic activity for Māori.

Te Puoho begins his role as Kaihautū on 7 December.

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