CHAIR - June McCabe
Finance and investment expertise, Māori and iwi investment leadership, governance and networks.

DEPUTY CHAIR - Matanuku Mahuika
National Māori leadership, investment experience, portfolio of tech company investments.

DIRECTOR - Merryn Straker
Co-founder of a leading Māori technology and software company (Straker Software), international investment, establishment of regional offices.

DIRECTOR - Teresa Pollard
Global and corporate tech exemplar, governance, investment experience, thought leader.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - Barry Soutar
Tech entrepreneur, Māori and Iwi governance.

ADVISER - Anthony Ruakere
Legal and financial, Māori sector.

ADVISER - Steve Saunders
Tech and horticulture global entrepreneur, investor, thought leader.

ADVISER - Nikora Ngaropō
Tech and animation entrepreneur, workforce development for tech, leads our Asia tech strategy

June McCabe - CHAIR
Finance and investment expertise, Māori and iwi investment leadership, governance and networks.

Tribal Affiliations: Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Kaharau.

June’s banking and finance experience spans over 27 years ranging from merchant and investment banking,  corporate banking and wealth management with various financial institutions. Within this time she also held a number of policy committee roles within the government sector aimed at accelerating Maori economic development and the Maori economy. She is an advocate for building a Maori capital market and investment in emerging asset classes (high tech) which recognise the collective asset base that dominates the Maori and iwi sectors and grows the potential of Maori Inc.  

As part of her governance focus she has also held a number of directorships over the last 20 years, in public, private and not-for-profits and Maori and iwi organisations, including Television New Zealand, The New Zealand Venture Investment Fund, Housing New Zealand, Accident Compensation Corporation and Westpac’s Superannuation Fund, Crown Health Financing Agency, Financial Services Institute of Australasia, She is currently on the boards of Avanti Finance Limited, Northland District Health Board, Procare Health Limited and associated companies, Chair of Te Waka Pupuri Putea Limited (asset holding company of Te Rarawa) and associated companies including Bells Produce Limited and Taitokerau Fibre Networks Limited.

Matanuku Mahuika - Deputy Chair
National Māori leadership, investment experience, portfolio of tech company investments.

Tribal Affiliations: Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Raukawa

Matanuku has been in corporate and private practice since 1991, and co-founded KAHUI LEGAL in 2003.

Matanuku provides advice on a wide range of corporate, commercial, Treaty settlement and public law issues.  Matanuku has acted on a large number of Treaty of Waitangi settlements, represented Ngati Porou throughout their foreshore and seabed negotiations, and in 2012 was the Chair of the Ministerial Panel on the reform of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.  He has also acted as a Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiator and has worked directly on various items of law reform.

Matanuku has held a wide variety of board roles including being the former Deputy Chair of Aotearoa Fisheries Limited (now Moana New Zealand) and the Chair of Sealord Group.  He is currently the Chair of the Ngati Porou Holding Company and holds a number of other directorships.

Merryn STraker - DIRECTOR
Co-founder of a global Māori technology and software company (Straker Software), investor, governance, thought-leader.

Tribal Affiliations: Merryn’s partner and co-founder Grant is Ngāti Raukawa, South Waikato

Merryn co-founded Straker Translations in 1999 with her husband, Grant. Along with Grant, Merryn was the winner of the 2018 master category for NZ Entrepreneur of the Year.  Merryn and Grant went onto successfully list Straker on the ASX in 2018 as the first female tech founder of a New Zealand company to do so.

Already passionate about language, tech and building scalable New Zealand based export businesses, Merryn was well aware of how few Māori tech entrepreneur’s get onto the global stage.  As a founding member of T3W she saw potential to help change the paradigm for Māori in tech.

In her role as Chief Operating Officer at Straker, Merryn oversees Straker’ Global Production, Acquisition Integration and the Product Developmment teams.  Tech is at the heart of every driver for the business and making sure that every touch point within the company runs smoothly.  

Merryn was formerly on the Board of Straker Translations and the Cerebral Society of New Zealand.

TERESA POLLARD - DIRECTOR
Tech entrepreneur, governance, investment, thought-leader.

Tribal Affiliations: Ngāti Kahu ki Whaingaroa, Ngā Puhi

Teresa is a passionate leader with an entrepreneurial focus and over 20  years in Sales, Marketing and Technology experience leading executive engagements and diverse teams in NZ, Singapore and New York.

 As a strategic thinker, Teresa is interested in technology and the impact and opportunity it creates for both Maori and greater NZ. Her strengths lie in developing innovative strategies for companies to develop or enhance products, and services; helping them to see a wider context and market opportunity. Teresa enjoys coaching people and helping them to value the skills and capabilities they have in reaching future goals.

 Teresa is committed to mentoring and inspiring our young people of NZ into the technology sector and is focused on developing partnerships across regions with other companies, Iwi and local authorities to deliver impact, employment opportunities and overall growth.

BArry Soutar - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Tech entrepreneur, Māori and Iwi governance.

Tribal Affiliations: Ngāi Tai ki Tamaki, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Pahauwera

Has a 30 plus year career in tech locally and internationally.

He grew a successful 40-person software and tech company with partners over 15 years in Wellington in the location intelligence sector exiting 2007. He joined NZ Trade and Enterprise as their first Māori manager executing a new growth strategy to boost Māori companies internationally. Twenty-five leading Māori tech exporters and Māori sector investors coalesced to form a new network now called Te Tira Toi Whakangao (or T3W in short). This strategy also enjoyed support from Callaghan Innovation prior to launching independently earlier year.

Barry also has a strong governance background in various Iwi, social and commercial boards.

Steve Saunders - ADVISER
Tech and horticulture global entrepreneur, investor, thought leader.

Tribal Affiliations: Ngāti Ranginui

Owner and Board Chairman of national award-winning Robotics Plus Ltd and the Plus Group of Companies. Steve has over 28 years of experience and expertise in the New Zealand horticulture industry across the following disciplines: growing, management, financial management, innovation, new product to market, post-harvest ownership, international experience in the export of horticultural products (including pollen and pollen application systems), project management and JV partnerships. As an active angel investor, has been appointed director of numerous other emerging start-ups and holds key board positions with Priority One, Enterprise Angels, Icehouse and recent Crown appointment to Landcare Research. Steve is also a shareholder and director for Newnham Park Innovation Centre, the home of many award-winning innovation-focused companies.

ANTHONY RUAKERE - ADVISeR
Legal and financial, Māori sector.

Tribal Affiliations: Taranaki, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga a Mahaki

One of the founding members of T3W, Anthony is a Director in EY Tahi, a kaupapa Māori, stand-alone, member firm of Ernst & Young (EY) global. With the kaupapa “Hāpaitia te iwi Māori, kia puāwai a pito mata” (interpreted as a single, clear focus to ‘accelerate Māori success’), Tahi complements EY to provide the ‘best of both worlds’ in terms of global strength, and indigenous creativity and application.

Having worked with and alongside Māori organisations (in a legal and business advisory capacity) for almost 25 years years, Anthony brings a wealth of institutional and subject knowledge to his work. In particular his work has seen him advise in various areas including strategy development and implementation, infrastructure procurement modelling, operating model design, Māori stakeholder relationship management and engagement, Māori partnership strategies, outcomes framework development, detailed service design, social enterprise, marketing, branding and supply chain.

Nikora ngaropō - ADVISeR
Tech, workforce development, Māori sector, asia strategy.

Tribal Affiliations: Te Rarawa, Ngā Puhi, Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungungu

Nikora is a Māori entrepreneur and founded NNMD and Young Animators in 2016. A Maori led Design & Animation tech company. It aspires to enable capability and capacity to all peoples of Aotearoa through education and technological enablement. 

 NNMD became one of the recipients of the Ka Hao Technology fund for 2016/2017 and through Young Animators became 1 of 12 partners to launch Kia Takatu a Matihiko - The National Digital Readiness programme across 44,000 teachers for the New Zealand Ministry of Education. A finalist in the NZ-Hi Tech Awards for 2018 NNMD is designing software to enable large scale AR & VR.

Nikora continues to work in commercial spaces as the Managing Director for NNMD creating a multi-tiered multi-faceted technology ecosystem, educating New Zealands future workforce and providing sustainable pathways into the technology industry.

Nikora heads our Asia networks and strategy along with investment relationships in that region.