June 06, 2022
Ms Dianne (Di) Grennell-Queen’s Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours 2022
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: GRENNELL, Ms Dianne Kay (Di)
For services to Māori and the Public Service
Ms Di Grennell’s leadership in iwi and community action strategies against family violence have created space for Māori collective and tikanga ways of addressing the impacts of violence.
Ms Grennell has co-Chaired Ngā Mātanga Māori since 2019, an advisory group of mātauranga Māori experts with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), and has led the proposal for development of a kaupapa Māori values framework for the welfare system. She has been a member of national policy advice groups, including the Māori Taskforce on Whānau Violence and the Māori Reference Group to MSD. She has been a lead in the commissioning of Whānau Ora and the Māori Housing Network. She has been a specialist lecturer with the Te Wero programme for rangatahi and men post-prison release. She authored ‘Aroha in Action’, a child abuse prevention resource. Under her leadership, Amokura Family Violence Prevention was awarded the Annual Human Rights Prize from the Leitner Centre for International law and Justice. She has extensive governance experience and advises or holds positions on boards and community advisory groups including Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Iwi Trust, Horizons Regional Council, and Hora Te Pai Health Services, and Literacy Aotearoa among others. Ms Grennell held several roles within Te Puni Kōkiri, including as Deputy Chief Executive for six years.