Māori & Pacific Corporate Leadership & Internship Firm Announces The Appointment Of New CEO

TupuToa is delighted to announce the appointment of its new CEO, Aroha Armstrong.

Leopino Foliaki & Tina Wilson, Co-Chair’s of TupuToa say Aroha has the perfect blend of leadership skills and experience to take the organisation on the next stage of its journey.

Aroha Armstrong started her career as an entrepreneur before moving into senior directors and advisory roles in Māori vocational education, innovation and the tech sector with organisations such as Te Pūkenga, Callaghan Innovation, MBIE and Poutama Trust.

Aroha is of Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Uenukukopako and Ngāti Te Roro o te Rangi descent, with her husband and children holding whakapapa to Te Whānau Apanui.

“I’m looking forward to joining the TupuToa whānau and picking up the baton from Anne Fitisemanu who leaves a fantastic legacy.”

Aroha says for her it is ‘kaupapa first’ and that her role is to manaaki and grow her team and new partnerships as Tupu Toa continues to nurture and guide students into professional roles.

She says TupuToa has done the hard yards as a start-up, building relationships and working to communicate something new in the corporate world, forging a pathway for young Māori and Pacific emerging professionals.

“What happens next will honour what has been. We have an experienced team and we’ll be listening to our students and our partners as TupuToa moves forward.”

Aroha takes up the role of CEO at TupuToa on September 23 building on a significant growth period for the organisation over the past seven years.

TupuToa has grown from an internship cohort in 2016 of 28 to 280 placements today, with hundreds more in new programmes. Corporate and government partners have increased from 20 to more than 180 over the same period, including global partners, community, iwi, and tertiary education providers.

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