Growing Indigenous Entrepreneurs with Ministry of Social Development
Project Design And Delivery Team (From Left) Hermione Mccallum-Haire, Jessica Palalagi And Supported By Anne Purcell.
With the Ministry of Social Development’s Auckland Regional team, Ākina created a pilot programme called ‘Kia tipu te pā harakeke’, or ‘the flax plantation growing indigenous entrepreneurs.’
An immersive wānanga series built to prioritise indigenous social entrepreneurs and changemakers, these meaningful sessions provided an opportunity for us to further develop the cultural responsiveness of our capability-building services.
Rather than retrofitting Western capability building methodology to achieve this, we worked hard from the foundation up — with our mahi created with indigenous entrepreneurs, for indigenous entrepreneurs.
After the successful pilot, Ākina will now work with key partners to further refine and deliver this programme with the objective of increasing the number of successful māori and pacific impact-led enterprises in Aotearoa.
“I have come away with a stronger network, more whanau members. It was good to connect with others experiencing the same challenges.”
Kia tipu te pā harakeke was piloted in early 2022, and has been independently evaluated by Centre for Social Impact. The evaluation was funded by Foundation North.