April 07, 2022
Education vision brings business kudos for Tipene
Tai Tokerau business and education leader Raewyn Tipene has become the first wahine Māori inducted into the Northern Advocate Business Hall of Fame.
Ms Tipene says after returning from Australia in the 1980s and becoming chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hine, she was inspired by urban Māori leader Dame June Jackson.
She started He Puna Mārama Trust in 1997 as a bilingual early childhood education provider, and it has steadily expanded across the age ranges, including running the Leadership Academy of A Company for secondary students.
She says the tohu is an acknowledgement of the work of many people over the years – and the mahi will continue.
“That succession plan, we’ve got to look for ways to grow it past us and hand that over, so that is something I am heavily involved in, looking for ways to set up the next generation for carrying on this mahi,” Ms Tipene says.