Our Board – Kāhui Poutokomanawa

As a core part of our DNA, our Kāhui Poutokomanawa have a fundamental role in strengthening service development, community relationships and the ongoing governance of Stand Tū Māia. This involves active contribution to strategy, planning, policy, programme oversight and delivery, and staff development.

Poutokomanawa are chosen by respective mana whenua to represent and protect their people and their interests. Their appointment to Stand Tū Māia is a direct expression of respect

Arapeta (Albie) Shelford

Arapeta (Albie) Shelford is the Poutokomanawa for the Stand Tū Māia Northern Region, based in Whangārei. Raised at Ōtamatea and descending from Te Uri o Hau and Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, he comes from a strong tradition of Māori leadership, faith and service. His whānau connections include his great-grandfather Paraire Karaka Paikea, a former Minister of Māori Affairs, and his grandfather Tapihana Paikea, a former Member of Parliament.

Matua Albie brings extensive cultural, spiritual, governance and community leadership to Stand Tū Māia. He is a trustee, director, adviser, Police chaplain, Minister of the Rātana Church, and has held leadership roles across marae, trusts, boards and committees throughout Te Tai Tokerau. Within Stand Tū Māia he also provides kaikōrero and kaikarakia leadership.

Francie Diver QSM

Taua Francie shares the Poutokomanawa role for the Stand Tū Māia Southern Region, bringing extensive experience across Māori health, community leadership, governance and advocacy. She is a hospital director, tangata whenua representative and hākui for Central Otago Health Services, and a director of Uruuruwhenua.

Of Ngāi Tahu, Waitaha and Kāti Māmoe descent, Francie has also served on the National Advisory Council on Employment for Women and as a deputy community member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal. As Poutokomanawa, she brings significant health and governance experience, strong community connections and a tangata whenua perspective to Stand Tū Māia, strengthening the organisation’s relationships and culturally grounded practice in the Southern Region.

Louise McKenzie

Taua Louise shares the Poutokomanawa role for the Stand Tū Māia Southern Region, bringing more than 40 years’ experience in education, community leadership and whānau development. Her career has spanned teaching, adult education and advisory roles, giving her deep experience in supporting learning, development and strong communities.

Of Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara and Ngāti Wai ki Mahurangi descent, Louise is a founder and secretary of Te Ao Huri, a trustee of Whare Whakaruruhau and Chair of Uruuruwhenua. As Poutokomanawa, she brings her cultural knowledge, educational experience and community connections to Stand Tū Māia, helping strengthen relationships with whānau and communities and ensuring local knowledge and perspectives contribute to the organisation’s work.

Ngāti Wheke

Ngāti Wheke are mana whenua and mana moana of Whakaraupō and the surrounding area, including the whenua on which the Stand Tū Māia Christchurch site stands. The relationship with Ngāti Wheke is reflected in Stand Tū Māia’s Poutokomanawa model, with Roy Tikao serving both as the representative Poutokomanawa for Christchurch and as a Trustee on Kāhui Poutūārongo. This creates a direct connection between mana whenua and the governance and life of the organisation.

Roy Tikao is of Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha iwi descent and Ngāti Wheke and Ngāti Irakehu hapū descent. He brings extensive governance, community, business and cultural leadership experience and holds leadership roles across a number of trusts and Ngāti Wheke organisations. Roy lives on his ancestral whenua and generously hosts Stand Tū Māia tamariki and staff at his marae, giving the relationship a lived and practical expression as well as a governance one.

Morehu Pewhairangi

Morehu is the Poutokomanawa for the Stand Tū Māia East Coast Region, based in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa. Raised in Gisborne with whakapapa extending throughout Te Tairāwhiti, Morehu brings a deep connection to the people, culture and communities of the region. His connection with Stand Tū Māia is also intergenerational, with two of his Pāpa having previously served as Poutokomanawa for the East Coast.

Morehu has extensive experience in te reo Māori, education, cultural leadership and iwi and hapū affairs. He has been a kōhanga reo teacher, Te Ataarangi tutor, cultural adviser to the Kindergarten Association, marae and hapū trustee, and iwi spokesperson at regional and national hui. He is also a Minister of the Ringatū Hāhi. As Poutokomanawa, Morehu brings this depth of cultural knowledge, whakapapa and community connection to Stand Tū Māia, strengthening its relationships and culturally grounded practice across Te Tairāwhiti.

Paraone Pirika (Trustee and Poutokomanawa)

Paraone is a respected Te Arawa leader with extensive experience across education, social services, iwi, hapū and community governance. Born in Ōwhata, Rotorua, and guided by his ancestral houses Tūtānekai and Hinemoa, he is of Ngāti Uenukukōpako descent and has spent more than 20 years working in education and social services, including with young people referred by Oranga Tamariki and Youth Justice.

As both a Trustee and Poutokomanawa for Stand Tū Māia, Paraone has played an important leadership role in strengthening the organisation’s Te Tiriti-based governance framework, helping ensure that mana whenua, tikanga Māori and Māori perspectives are integral to governance, strategy and organisational decision-making. He also holds numerous leadership roles across Te Arawa, including chair, director and trustee positions spanning hapū, whānau, education, social services and community organisations.

Kahu Ropata

Kahu is the Poutokomanawa for the Stand Tū Māia Central Region. An iwi historian, former te reo Māori teacher and experienced cultural adviser, he has worked alongside boards, schools and government departments, bringing deep knowledge of te reo Māori, tikanga and iwi history to their work.

As Poutokomanawa, Kahu brings this knowledge and cultural leadership to Stand Tū Māia, strengthening the organisation’s connection with mana whenua and helping ensure tikanga Māori, te reo Māori and a strong understanding of whakapapa and place inform its relationships and practice. He is one of eight children of Kahu-o-te-rangi and Marara, née Ferris.

Shaquille Shortland

Pā Shaq is the Poutokomanawa for the Stand Tū Māia Auckland Region, based in Manukau. Of Ngāpuhi Ngāti Terino, Ngāti Hine Te Orewai, Te Roroa, Ngāti Mahia, Te Uri o Hau and Ngāti Mahuta descent, he brings extensive cultural, community and governance leadership to the role.

Pā Shaq has held leadership roles across marae, trusts, boards and committees throughout Te Tai Tokerau and Tāmaki Makaurau, as a director, trustee, Chair and cultural and council adviser. He is Executive Director of the Edmund Hillary Institute of International Leadership and founder of Tūāpapa Academy and Consultancy. His contribution has been recognised nationally through the Kiwibank Local Community Hero Award in 2020 and the Impact Award for Inclusion in 2019.

Through his role as Poutokomanawa, Pā Shaq brings this breadth of leadership, cultural knowledge and community connection to Stand Tū Māia, strengthening the organisation’s relationships with mana whenua and its commitment to Te Tiriti Based practice.

Maringi Brown-Sadlier (Pou Kōrero)

Marinig is the Pou Kōrero and National Advisor Iwi/Māori Service Articulation for Stand Tū Māia. She works in close partnership with Kāhui Poutokomanawa to ensure that a Te Ao Māori worldview is foundational to the way Stand Tū Māia understands, describes and delivers its services. Her leadership has helped shape the organisation’s bicultural governance model, organisational framework, cultural capability, role titles and a Te Tiriti based approach to service and programme delivery.

Maringi is of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki and Te Whakatōhea whakapapa and grew up in Te Karaka, Gisborne, immersed in te reo Māori and the life of her marae, iwi and hapū. A teacher by profession, she later worked in iwi policy before joining Stand Tū Māia in 2011 as Gisborne Regional Manager. Her experience encompasses education, iwi development, cultural leadership and the articulation of practice through a Te Ao Māori lens.