Kate Cherrington
Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust Chair
Kate Cherrington was appointed to Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust on the 9th of January 2018. She is of Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi and Te Kapotai descent.
Kate is based in Pōneke but calls Tai Tokerau and Murihiku home. She has spent over 25 years in the tertiary educational sector, notably with Te Wānanga O Aotearoa. She is a highly respected leader in education management, policy design, quality cultural assurance, Māori language programmes and wānanga development.
Kate serves on a number of Boards in the philanthropic and tertiary sectors. She is highly passionate and committed to all her governance roles, however there is one role that she cares deeply for, and that is as a trustee for Miria Marae in her homeland of Waiomio.
She grew up in Invercargill and truly understands what it means to reside away from her tribal lands, she brings a great wealth of knowledge and educational leadership to the Trust. It is an honour and privilege to have her Chair Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust.
Awerangi Tamihere
Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust Director
Ngāti Kauwhata, Rangitāne, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Kai Tahu
Awerangi is the Chief Operating Officer for Te Whānau o Waipareira and the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency.
Prior to taking on her current role, Awerangi for the last five years was the Director of Wai-Atamai with Te Whānau o Waipareira. The first for Māori By Māori social innovation hub in the country. A hub based in the community which facilitates embedding the impact that matters for whānau and their communities.
Awerangi’s career spans the public sector - working in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in Social Reform and other government agencies through to the private sector - establishing and leading the KPMG Māori Consulting Team. Her initial career was as a speech language therapist before moving into management roles and focusing on broader social reform. Working with her own iwi has taken many roles including implementing on the ground for Māori by Māori mechanisms for delivery - a catalyst for her continued focus on supporting aspirational change amongst our people. Awerangi has also held other various government and 3rd sector governance roles prior to becoming a Director for Te Pūtea Whakatupu.
Maria Ngawati
Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust Alternative Director
Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou
Maria Ngawati is a Māmā and has worked across all parts of the Tertiary education sector for the majority of her career. She is a current PhD candidate, holds a Masters degree in Health Science and trained as a Physiotherapist, so has a keen interest in Health Sciences and Whānau wellbeing.
Her upbringing was in West Auckland, in a time where Māori were becoming more vocal in all areas of Māori advancement, and her and her siblings are strongly rooted in their Ngāti Hinetanga. This gives Maria a deep appreciation of the experience of being an urban Māori with obligations back to her many Hapū, and she seeks to reconnect and revitalise herself and rangatahi in particular back to Māoritanga through the vehicles of education, sport, kapahaka and Te Reo.
Maria’s main area of academic study is focused on the barriers that exist for Māori through New Zealand’s higher education system, and the potential of Indigenous ways of knowing in changing our global landscape.
She currently resides in Rotorua with her whānau.
Tatiana Greening
Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust Alternate Director
Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Kauwhata, Tainui, Tūwharetoa
Tatiana Geening has extensive governance experience for her iwi in local council, district health board, primary health organisation, Māori and economic development and various service providers.
These roles see her advocating for Māori wellbeing priorities, investment for Māori advancement, equitable resourcing and influencing positive outcomes for whānau, hapū, iwi and hapori.
With a background in teaching, she has 20 years consulting in project management, evaluation and research, policy and organisational development. Her recent role General Manager for Manukau Urban Māori Authority focussed on supporting whānau in urban environments towards wellbeing and whānau centered solutions.
Tatiana currently serves on Te Pou Matakana - Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency who champion rangatiratanga - self determination for whānau within their communities.
Tatiana resides in Heretaunga near Korongata marae and spends her time with her tamariki in their sporting pursuits across rugby, league, waka ama, basketball and has a love for creating food. She considers it a privilege to be raised in her pā.
Te Pūoho Kātene
Kaihautū | Executive Director
Te Pūoho traces his heritage to the Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Tama tribes. A graduate of Stanford Business School and Fulbright Scholar, he is steadfast in his pursuit of holistic prosperity for Māori.
His comprehensive background includes marine science, commercial and investment strategy, governance, relationship management across iwi and government, impact investment and social enterprise. His role as an Obama Foundation Leader: Asia-Pacific has given him a global outlook on leveraging global best practice within an indigenous, values-based lens.
As Executive Director of Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust, Te Pūoho pursues targeted social change within a tikanga-based impact framework. The Trust’s philanthropic and investment activity targets outcomes in three priority areas: education & training, traditional and scientific knowledge systems, and leadership development.
An established governor, Te Pūoho serves Ngāti Toa as a Board Trustee and on the Audit, Risk and Investment Committee. He is an Independent Director for Armillary Private Capital, Wakatū Inc’s Manaaki board, Waikato-Tainui’s Distributions Committee and is a Trustee of the Ākina Foundation.