A new scholarship programme is backing the next generation of Māori technology leaders, recognising that the future of innovation in Aotearoa will be shaped not only by code and artificial intelligence, but by culture, identity and whakapapa.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua, in partnership with innovation organisation Revved, has announced the inaugural recipients of the Whātua Whitawhita (Powering Up) Scholarship, an initiative designed to support Māori rangatahi pursuing careers in technology, digital innovation and entrepreneurship.
The first recipients are Manaia Acott Hodge Te Paa and LaDainian Faimanifo, two young innovators whose aspirations span digital storytelling, software engineering and gaming while remaining firmly grounded in kaupapa Māori and their respective whakapapa.
Manaia has developed a passion for using photography, videography, social media and digital marketing to make kaupapa Māori more accessible to wider audiences through creative digital storytelling. LaDainian, currently studying software engineering, hopes to build a career developing software and interactive technologies while ensuring Māori perspectives remain part of the industry’s future.
The scholarship provides far more than financial assistance.
Recipients receive mentoring from industry and iwi leaders, introductions to entrepreneurs and investors, professional networking opportunities and access to the Revved 2026 Summit, where they will connect with hundreds of business, technology and community leaders from across Aotearoa.
The initiative reflects a growing movement across New Zealand to increase Māori participation in one of the country’s fastest-growing sectors.
Technology is expected to play an increasingly significant role in New Zealand’s economy, creating demand for skilled software developers, digital designers, cybersecurity specialists, artificial intelligence experts and entrepreneurs. Yet Māori remain underrepresented across many parts of the technology sector.
Programmes such as Whātua Whitawhita aim to address that gap by creating culturally grounded pathways into industries that have traditionally lacked Māori representation.
Rather than asking rangatahi to leave their identity behind to succeed in technology, the scholarship encourages them to use digital tools as a means of strengthening culture, telling Indigenous stories and creating solutions for whānau and communities.
The kaupapa aligns with a wider transformation already underway across Aotearoa.
Māori-led organisations including Rotorua’s Native Tech (Digital Natives Academy) have demonstrated that embedding tikanga Māori alongside coding, robotics, game development, animation and digital design can dramatically improve participation and success among rangatahi.
Increasingly, Māori innovators are challenging traditional assumptions that technology and culture exist in separate worlds.
Instead, digital platforms are becoming tools for preserving te reo Māori, protecting mātauranga Māori, creating Indigenous businesses, developing educational resources and ensuring Māori voices help shape emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and immersive digital environments.
For Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua, the scholarship represents an investment not simply in individual careers but in the future leadership of Māori within New Zealand’s digital economy.
Organisers say the long-term vision is to build a pipeline of Māori entrepreneurs, engineers, software developers and digital creators capable of designing technologies that benefit both iwi and wider society.
As technology continues reshaping almost every aspect of modern life, initiatives like Whātua Whitawhita demonstrate that Māori are not only participating in the digital revolution—they are helping define what it looks like through the lens of whakapapa, innovation and community.
For a generation of rangatahi growing up equally comfortable in te ao Māori and the digital world, the future is no longer simply about learning to use technology. It is about creating it.
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