Tō te kākano

Poipoia te kākano kia puāwai; Nurturing seeds of opportunity, leadership and healing within Māori communities is the vision statement for Tō te Kākano. The principles of Tiaki- a duty to serve and protect, Taonga tuku iho- transmission of knowledge (through practice) and Hautaka- legacy through journaling (creativity) are what nurture and nourish Tō te kākano.

The seed was planted through first-hand experience of the inequities that we faced through wanting to raise our children with Te Reo Māori as their first language and the burden often left to a few whānau members to govern and manage Māori immersion spaces, with limited skills and knowledge, limited vision for their futures and unrealized potential of their pukenga.

Initially developed as a facilitation service for kōhanga reo to strengthen and develop an understanding of governance and management; the business has broadened to support bicultural professional supervision, healing practices and initiatives to help whānau in our communities thrive. The foundational concepts are ‘how to hold and create a vision for the future and live to our fullest potential’.

Tō te kākano has flourished because of 10 years of experience in education as a Kaiako and 3 years as a kaitiaki practitioner, many contributions in various Māori-centric spaces such as kōhanga, kura, mau rākau wānanga, in our kāinga, on our marae and through the learnings my professional role as an accredited cultural facilitator has offered.