Te Tāpui Atawhai – Auckland City Mission’s work to improve Māori outcomes and
intentionally privilege Māori development has won them the Supreme Award at the 2023 Diversity Awards NZ™ announced in Auckland last night.
Diversity Works New Zealand Chief Executive, Maretha Smit said the Mission had made a
very real commitment to acknowledging the relationship between Māori and Tāngata Tiriti
under the Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Two years ago, the Mission was gifted the name Te Tāpui Atawhai, representing its
connections and approach to care and support. As part of the unveiling the name, the
organisation acknowledged the Mission’s role in colonisation and apologised for the harm it
had caused.
It went on to appoint a General Manager Māori and set up Manurau, a Māori caucus made
up of 10 Māori team leaders and managers from across Te Tāpui Atawhai.
Manurau has set three main goals around promoting Māori values and practices within the
Mission, Ms Smit said.
These include influencing the organisational culture, campaigning for best practices in tikanga and te reo Māori and delivering effective services to Māori.
“This mahi recognises the needs of kaimahi Māori working at Te Tāpui Atawhai as well as those accessing the organisation’s services. More than 50 per cent of those people are Māori,” she said.
Te Tāpui Atawhai has established several programmes aimed at strengthening and healing
including te reo Māori classes that acknowledge language traumas, leadership wānanga for
Māori staff, a monthly pōwhiri to welcome new team members and spiritual and physical
wellbeing initiatives.
Te Tāpui Atawhai General Manager Māori, Joanne Reidy says, “It all creates a workplace
where Māori are empowered to work in a way where they are allowed to be unapologetically Māori, which in turn will allow Te Tāpui Atawhai to operate in a way where Māori solutions are able to be developed and offered to the people who we support.”
Te Tāpui Atawhai – Auckland City Mission was also the Medium-large Organisation Winner in the Ngā Āhuatanga o te Tiriti category at the awards.
The Diversity Awards NZ™ programme offers organisations an opportunity to showcase a
variety of innovative people initiatives and publicly commit to being held accountable for
tangible progress in building work environments where everybody is safe to bring the best
version of themselves.
The full list of 2023 Diversity Awards NZ™ winners are:
Leadership Award
Medium-Large Organisation Winner – Plant and Food Research New Zealand
Diverse Talent Award
Small-Medium Organisation Winner – Warner Bros. International Television Production New
Zealand
Medium-Large Organisation Winner – LawVu
Medium-Large Organisation Highly Commended – Constellation Brands NZ
Inclusive Workplace Award
Medium-Large Organisation Winner – Hīkina Whakatutuki – Ministry of Business, Innovation
& Employment (MBIE)
Medium-Large Organisation Winner – New Zealand Steel
Ngā Āhuatanga o te Tiriti Tohu
Small-Medium Organisation Winner – Toi Mai
Small-Medium Organisation Highly Commended – Te Kāhui Tātari Ture | Criminal Cases Review Commission
Medium-Large Organisation Winner – Te Tāpui Atawhai – Auckland City Mission
Medium-Large Organisation Highly Commended – Plant and Food Research New Zealand
Impact Award
Winner – Le Va
Highly Commended – Talent International (NZ) Ltd
Diversity Champion
Winner – Stacey Mendonca, National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)
Supreme Award
Winner – Te Tāpui Atawhai – Auckland City Mission
