Creating system change while staying true to ourselves
At Te Taura Ora, we are committed to ensuring that the lived experience of our whānau and their voices shape the health system, strengthening Māori leadership and placing tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake at the heart of every decision we make. How to achieve hauora sovereignty is based on how to “practise it, grow it, and normalise it.”
Recently, our team engaged with international Indigenous thought leaders at the Toitū Hauora Māori Health Leaders Symposium, hosted by Ngāti Tūwharetoa in Taupō with the support of Te Rau Ora. The Symposium kōrero was around a central question “How do we create system change and be true to ourselves?”
This collaboration brought together Māori leaders, indigenous innovators, alongside Chief Kirk Francis and Kitcki Carroll from self-governing unired South and Eastern tribal nations in the USA to explore how Indigenous-led governance, investment, and policy can strengthen health and wellbeing outcomes for communities. By connecting across borders, we were able to share thirty years of insights, learn from proven models off-shore, and consider how these approaches can strengthen whānau health outcomes here in Aotearoa.
The symposium reinforced that system change must be guided by tikanga, history, and identity. We reflected on our Te Arawa whakapapa, mana motuhake and tino rangatiratanga pre-1840 before Tāngata Tiriti arrived, and the ongoing need to honour whānau perspectives in all aspects of healthcare.
Engaging with Indigenous leaders from overseas demonstrated how self-determination in health can be successfully exercised, providing insights into governance models, policy advocacy, and sustainable investment that can be adapted to the Aotearoa context.
Being part of the Symposium aligns directly with our strategic priorities at Te Taura Ora. By connecting with iwi, hapū, providers, and international partners, we are building networks, sharing knowledge, and advocating for Māori-led solutions that strengthen whānau wellbeing. We are embedding Whānau Voice in decision-making, growing our capacity to influence health policy, and demonstrating the value of Māori leadership in driving system change.
At the heart of this approach, our Chair, Hingatu Thompson, shared at the Symposium how our mahi at te Taura Ora is guided by three key pou:
- Whānau Mana Motuhake – empowering whānau to actively lead and participate in their wellbeing.
- Hapū and Iwi Tino Rangatiratanga – strengthening self-determination across hapū and iwi structures.
- Māori Kotahitanga – fostering unity across iwi to collectively shape a health system that works for all whānau.
Te Toitū Hauora is now a platform to connect, learn, and translate Indigenous-led innovation into action. By actively engaging with international thought leaders and working in partnership with iwi and whānau, Te Taura Ora is ensuring that Māori leadership, values, and aspirations are at the centre of the health system now and for generations to come.
A kaitiaki wānanga not for the bottom drawer
Te Taura Ora o Waiariki is focused on making sure every hauora dollar invested delivers value for whānau in a real-world context. To strengthen how we measure what matters most to our rohe, our Board and General Manager have recently upskilled through Social Value and Social Return on Investment practitioner training.
Board member Aroha Morgan says the training challenged expectations from the very beginning. “Initially probably about 99% of us were wondering why we were there. But that didn’t last long, probably fifteen minutes into it we understood the value of how it can be applied in real life.”
Like many trustees, Aroha had heard of SROI before but quickly realised this decision-making approach was different to what she expected and far more practical than many training programmes that end up in the bottom drawer.
A key insight for Aroha was how SROI helps shift thinking away from counting outputs and towards understanding what real change looks like for our whānau and hapori. The concept, the ‘theory of change’ stood out strongly for her along with how to measure value.
“Essentially, it’s got a V in it now for value. That’s what got me. What would our community value?” she says. For Aroha, the training reinforced the importance of strengthening relationships with local stakeholders including iwi, hapū, hauora providers even PHO’s so they can use a shared tool to reflect honestly on what is working and how to improve service design and delivery.
As one of 15 Iwi Māori Partnership Boards across the motu, Te Taura Ora o Waiariki carries significant responsibility for monitoring the health system and influencing how funding is allocated and spent. Aroha says SROI provides a clear framework and process to support this kaitiaki role, with a step-by-step template that systematically investigates all aspects of proposed projects or developments. Rather than making decisions based on assumptions, the approach supports deeper analysis and stronger evidence, helping the Board advocate confidently for what whānau need.
During the training, Aroha and our Chair Hingatu Thompson worked through a live example using our Whānau Voice Grant Kaupapa. She says the step-by-step SROI approach showed how strengthening programme design can support better decision making and influence policy.
“When we take the time to map outcomes properly, we can better demonstrate impact with confidence about what works,” she says. What excites her most is now having a practical tool to analyse proposed projects in a way that strengthens advocacy and supports smarter investment decisions. “Most courses just go in the bottom drawer. Not this one, it’s a keeper,” she says.
The training also taught ‘Hypothesis and Emergence Theory’. For Aroha, this is simply about telling the stories that endure, including the ones that are often left behind in traditional reporting and funding conversations. She sees it as an opportunity for whānau to tell their stories in their own way, and a reminder that when working in complex real-world contexts, “it is better to be vaguely right than precisely wrong.”