New leader for stop Māori child abuse effort

New leader for stop Māori child abuse effort

Tuwhakairiora Williams has been appointed the new chief executive of Te Kahui Mana Ririki Trust – a group formed eight years ago to eliminate Māori child abuse.

“Tuwhakairiora has served in the private, public and iwi sectors and now he has put his hand up to serve our most valuable asset – our children, their parents and whānau so we are absolutely stoked about that,” said trust chairwoman Kuni Jenkins.

“Tuwhakairiora gets Māori and he gets government, education, business and communications and having someone on board with such a wide range of knowledge like that is exactly what we need to advance our goal of eliminating Māori child abuse.”

Mr Williams (Whakatōhea, Ngaitai, Ngāti Porou) said he was looking forward to the challenge of progressing the trust’s efforts to create violence free whānau environments.

“The trust has been heads down for the past few years talking with parents, whanau and testing and critiquing our programme which we know will, with the right support, make a real difference for tamariki,” said Mr Williams.

The main priorities for the trust this year included bringing together every group working in this space, to take a serious and proactive look at Māori-based solutions and to undertake research on the behaviours and attitudes of young fathers.

The trust does not receive any government funding and relies solely on the support of philanthropists Tindall Foundation and Todd Foundation.

Tuwhakairiora, who worked as a primary school teacher in his early career, has a degree in political science with a major in industrial relations. His previous work includes being an external advisor to various Ministers and government agencies facilitating engagement between them and iwi/Māori, working on marae development initiatives, being involved in Treaty settlement claim negotiations, setting up the Māori Television Service, being involved in spectrum negotiations and facilitating discussions between health providers and the public health sector.

He is the current chair of Te Roopu Taumata – Māori Advisory Committee Public Health as well as Waka Hourua – Māori and Pacific Youth Suicide Leadership Group.

ENDS

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