About us

Our vision and mission

Our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi is woven through all of our work to build a better society.

Our vision is of an Aotearoa New Zealand where everyone has a place to belong.

Our mission is to build a social movement across the country of people, organisations and communities committed to working together to build a socially inclusive Aotearoa New Zealand.

Our whakatauki

This whakatauki was gifted to Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono by Associate Professor Dr Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato). In writing it, he was inspired by the toroa (albatross), a symbol of peace. The whakatauki tracks the toroa as it soars across the seas, to its nesting sites inland, and how it sews offshore and onshore together in its flight.

Ka hōkā a Tāhono i Uta!
Ka hōkā a Tāhono i Tai!
Ka rerea a Kōwhitiwhiti!
Ka tau ki Kōwiniwini,
Ka tau ki Kōwanawana!
Tūturu ō whiti whakamaua kia tina!
Tina! Hui e!
Taiki e!

As Tāhono soars across the seas
As Tāhono soars inland
And in leaving those places of significance in the Crossing
Alights on Kōwiniwini, on Kōwanawana (places of significance to the peoples of those spaces)
Let there be an affirming of that crossing
An affirming of the settling together
So be it!

Our values

Te Tiriti embodies the “promise of two peoples to take the best care of each other” in the best possible way (Bishop Manuhuia Bennett).

We understand that Te Tiriti o Waitangi established a set of rights and obligations and a relationship between the Crown and Rangatira, which remains in place today. It created a governance framework for the nation (kāwanatanga). It affirmed the existing rights of Tangata Whenua to self-determination (rangatiratanga). It guaranteed shared citizenship and equal rights for all (rite tahi).

Tino rangatiratanga – Seeking to understand with empathy, curiosity and respect.
This looks like – Being present in our delivery, conversations and relationships.
This sounds like – Using simple and appropriate language, diverse approaches to conversations, acknowledging difference.
This feels like – Living with respect, honour and belonging.

  1. Support others to grow and thrive

    We work together with others and place community aspirations for their futures front and centre.

  2. Support Tino rangatiratanga

    We work in ways that support Tino rangatiratanga and Māori self-determination, and normalise Te Reo Māori and tikanga Māori.

  3. Act with integrity

    We do the right thing, we deliver on our promises. We are open about our decisions and actions, and own them.

  4. Grow Belonging & Inclusion

    We work in ways that recognise the mana of all. We do this through manaakitanga me awhi (relating to and showing we care) and whakarongo (silent listening).

What we are going to do

  • Develop a national strategy for belonging and inclusion

    We will develop a national strategy for diversity and inclusion. This will bring a more coordinated approach across communities and groups working to create an inclusive society.

  • Develop constellations to foster greater community collaboration

    We will set up constellations around key focus areas relating to inclusion. Constellations are collaborative networks that support people and organisations to build cross-sector partnerships and collectively support change.

Project outcomes

  1. Reduced discrimination and improvement in the sense of belonging across Aotearoa.

  2. Communities empowered to determine solutions that work for them, implemented with the support and collaboration of other communities.

  3. Competitive environment for NGOs shifts towards greater sharing of funding, development of programmes, ideas and resources.

  4. Government engagement with civil society changes into a relationship where civil society has power and influence over matters which affect them.

  5. Funding from the state and philanthropic sector has greater impact as organisations working together have greater synergy and efficiencies.

  6. Enabling all communities to benefit from programmes and processes that are effective, and which can be developed and nurtured in regions across the country.

Key milestones

  1. Project setup

    We mapped networks, researched what is already happening and gained initial funding.

  2. Conversation

    We talked to people across the country about their experiences of belonging, and not belonging.

  3. Analysis and reporting

    We analysed what people told us and shared a report on the themes we found in what they shared with us.

  4. Strategy and mapping

    We are establishing key focus areas and mapping individuals and organisations to identify future partnerships.

  5. Constellations piloted

    We will help form and support partnerships to establish and grow constellations around the three key focus areas.

  6. Constellations scaled-up

    As our network of constellations and momentum grows and we learn together, we will identify opportunities to scale-up and achieve greater impact.

Our whānau

The team

External staff

  • Trent Morgan IT / Web Developer

Our Māori advisory team

Advisory group

  • Lincoln Dam
  • Ruth Gerzon
  • Jackie Clark

Job vacancies

There are currently no job vacancies available.