Left to right: Associate Professor Garrick Cooper, Sacha McMeeking, Jamie Hape.聽Absent: Liam Grant
The group of educators behind Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha | 茄子视频app官网 (UC)鈥檚 Master of M膩ori and Indigenous Leadership (MMIL) programme have won the national 2025 Te Whatu Kairangi Group Award from Ako Aotearoa for their outstanding success in supporting M膩ori learners through a Kaupapa M膩ori-led approach.
Founded by McMeeking and T膩 Tipene O鈥橰egan, the programme develops M膩ori leadership across diverse professional backgrounds, empowering graduates to advance mana motuhake and tino rangatiratanga in their communities.聽
This Master of M膩ori and Indigenous Leadership (MMIL) group embodies that truth. They cultivate bold kaupapa M膩ori leaders grounded in mana motuhake and tino rangatiratanga. This is not a business leadership course, but a movement rooted in wh膩nau, hap奴, and iwi aspirations. The MMIL group nurtures authentic leadership anchored in identity and culture. Through its work on marae and connected globally through Indigenous exchanges, their work is deeply embedded in the lived realities of its 膩konga.聽The MMIL educators deliver a w膩nanga-style learning model, enabling MMIL students to gain an education from within their communities. This approach helps overcome barriers such as distance and isolation, as well as family and work commitments.
Described as a 鈥渟ignificant game-changer,鈥 the MMIL programme鈥檚 impact is seen across Aotearoa, with graduates shaping policy, leading iwi initiatives, and pursuing doctoral study.
The group state, 鈥淥ur role is not to make change ourselves, but to empower others to advance mana motuhake and tino rangatiratanga in their own communities鈥.鈥 Through Te Reo, tikanga, and the metaphor of 鈥榩ou鈥, they stand as a beacon of Indigenous excellence 鈥 strategic, visionary, and transformative.
The strength of the programme lies in fostering autonomy through passion-led, community-based projects, and in walking alongside 膩konga as they reclaim their voice and vision.
Since 2017, the programme has maintained a completion rate of around 85%, with master鈥檚 dissertations addressing policy reforms in areas such as suicide prevention, driver licensing and resource consenting. Many alumni have gone on to governance roles in councils and other high-level organisations.
Associate Professor Garrick Cooper says the growing student demand to join the programme reflects its success, which relies heavily on word-of-mouth referrals from alumni.
鈥淲e are witnessing the programme鈥檚 amazing community impacts, with students empowered to take their learnings and drive change from within their communities and organisations, and the demand for the programme has vastly exceeded our expectations,鈥 he says.聽聽
MMIL Director Jamie Hape completed the master鈥檚 programme, before taking on the programme leadership role at UC鈥檚 Aotahi School of M膩ori and Indigenous Studies in 2021.
鈥淲e (the MMIL leadership team) can see that we are doing things right,鈥 Hape says. 鈥淭he way we teach really works. Our people take their learning back to their marae and communities, and it creates real change.鈥
No two master鈥檚 dissertations have been the same, something Hape believes shows how each student can apply their education to tackle their community or organisation's unique challenges.聽
鈥淲hether the issue is corrections, health, community - it shows what is happening in our communities and what needs to be addressed. They鈥檝e done the theoretical work, and now they feel empowered to act and have our voices heard.鈥澛
