Emily Vaka'uta is Co-CEO of Springload Te Pipītanga, a digital design agency. However, the focus of
her presentation was bi-cultural leadership.
her presentation was bi-cultural leadership.
Emily Vaka'uta is Co-CEO of Springload Te Pipītanga, a digital design agency. However, the focus of her presentation was bi-cultural leadership. Emily touched on Aotearoa’s history including Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the articles and principles on which the two versions of Te Tiriti were developed. She
acknowledged that a two minute light touch on Te Tiriti is too short, but we were encouraged to read and research for ourselves to understand the motivations and intent of each document.
Emily defines bi-cultural leadership as “it embraces and integrates principles and values of both Māori and Non-Māori cultures. It recognises Te Tiriti o Waitangi and seeks to honour the articles of the Treaty and ensures Māori perspectives and values are integrated into decision-making and prioritises building meaningful relationships with Māori to achieve equitable outcomes”. Emily’s commitment to bi-culturalism is based on her belief that unity and equity go hand in hand and results in the sharing of power, money and privilege. As is well documented, Māori are over represented in many of our negative statistics, and Emily promotes that inclusion of Māori in decision-making will contribute to positive change.
Springload is committed to having a balance of Māori and Non-Māori on their leadership team. While she acknowledges operationalising a truly bi-cultural working environment can be challenging if only because there are times our employment legal framework can create barriers to implementation. Their whakapuawai strategy – to nurture and grow leaders, guides their digital inclusion aspiration where Māori are working for Māori.
So, how do enterprises achieve this? Emily considers a bi-cultural leadership team is essential as well as a deep understanding of who you are and where you’ve come from. It is important to understand what Te Tiriti means for your organisation and how bi-culturalism flows through your organisation.
Emily’s dream is to raise up strong leaders, then allow them to lead in a way that creates equity and equality for all.
Emily finished with a whakatauki. Seek the treasure that you value most dearly and if you bow your head let it be to a lofty mountain. This speaks to her about perseverance and being aspirational that bi-cultural ways of being will be normalised in Aotearoa.
acknowledged that a two minute light touch on Te Tiriti is too short, but we were encouraged to read and research for ourselves to understand the motivations and intent of each document.
Emily defines bi-cultural leadership as “it embraces and integrates principles and values of both Māori and Non-Māori cultures. It recognises Te Tiriti o Waitangi and seeks to honour the articles of the Treaty and ensures Māori perspectives and values are integrated into decision-making and prioritises building meaningful relationships with Māori to achieve equitable outcomes”. Emily’s commitment to bi-culturalism is based on her belief that unity and equity go hand in hand and results in the sharing of power, money and privilege. As is well documented, Māori are over represented in many of our negative statistics, and Emily promotes that inclusion of Māori in decision-making will contribute to positive change.
Springload is committed to having a balance of Māori and Non-Māori on their leadership team. While she acknowledges operationalising a truly bi-cultural working environment can be challenging if only because there are times our employment legal framework can create barriers to implementation. Their whakapuawai strategy – to nurture and grow leaders, guides their digital inclusion aspiration where Māori are working for Māori.
So, how do enterprises achieve this? Emily considers a bi-cultural leadership team is essential as well as a deep understanding of who you are and where you’ve come from. It is important to understand what Te Tiriti means for your organisation and how bi-culturalism flows through your organisation.
Emily’s dream is to raise up strong leaders, then allow them to lead in a way that creates equity and equality for all.
Emily finished with a whakatauki. Seek the treasure that you value most dearly and if you bow your head let it be to a lofty mountain. This speaks to her about perseverance and being aspirational that bi-cultural ways of being will be normalised in Aotearoa.