Speakers
Pio Terei
Pio Terei MNZM has turned his many talents into a stellar career as a musician, comedian, actor, whānau advocate, speaker, and hunter-gatherer presenter. From Māori radio he moved to screen comedy; Pete and Pio, The Life and Times of Te Tutu; drama Mataku, No 2; entertainment Big Saturday Night In, It’s In The Bag; travel Intrepid Journeys, Te Araroa: Tales From The Trails, Off The Grid; and food Kai Safari, Tangaroa.
Pio Terei is one of television’s great survivors. He has carved himself a career as a Māori entertainer and feels passionate about both those roles. He has always been proud of being Māori. He has always entertained easily and effortlessly in the way of his people. Pio derives sustenance from being a part of the wider whakapapa of Māori entertainment. Ancestors in that illustrious family tree include the marae orators and singers of his Tai Tokerau tribes. More recent forebears include the Māori showband generation and iconic greats like Ricky May, Tūī Teka, Sir Howard Morrison and Billy T James. Pio has always used his skills in the tradition of someone who is the total package: Singer, musician and comic.
Arnika MacPhail
Arnika Macphail is the Kaiwhakahaere at impactED.
Arnika works alongside schools around Aotearoa to support kaiako and SLT to enhance their curriculum. Arnika comes from a teaching background and understands that time can be a barrier for PLD. The coaching and mentoring she provides models this by helping educators to save time. Arnika believes PLD should be engaging and relevant.
Learn how to leverage the power of stories in the digital age while prioritising your well-being and fostering a positive digital culture.
Dan Te Whenua Walker
Dan Walker has tribal affiliations to Tangahoe, Ngati Ruanui, Nga Ruahinerangi, Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Te Atiawa, Maniapoto, Tuhourangi and Pakeha. He is a mokopuna of the great freedom fighter Titokowaru and wahine leader Ruaputahanga.
He was privileged to be nurtured under the manaakitanga of Kaai Tahu iwi for over 25 years of his life in Otautahi and Dan currently lives in, and pays respect to, the whenua lands of Ngati Manuhiri in Stanmore Bay Auckland with his wife Michelle and their three tamariki Josh, Tyler and Maia. Dan is Global Co-Chair of Indigenous at Microsoft where he is focused on supporting Indigenous empowerment wherever Microsoft is and raising the Indigenous voice in technology globally. He works as a Channel Executive across Australia and NZ looking after Partners and Cloud Solutions at Microsoft.
Through the help of his whanau, his elders and his tribal teachers, Dan has learned much of his Maori cultural wisdom through the 15+ years of service to his iwi tribe Ngati Ruanui. His experiences shaped his belief that Indigenous wisdom is for everyone and we need to reclaim this wisdom that has been handed down to us. His Masters degree was about tikanga Maori ki te ao matihiko – Maori values as a framework for digital leadership. This journey led him down interviews with Indigenous leaders from around he world about Indigenous wisdom from a digital context. Dan will discuss some of these Indigenous approaches to technology and how Maori are starting to collaborate with modern legal and corporate frameworks for true long-term inter-generational change for our future.
Dan is the Deputy Chair of NZ Maori Tourism, Pou Tuara of Te Runanga o Ngati Ruanui, Director of Auckland Unlimited, on the Expert Advisory Panel at Innovation Programme for Tourism Recovery, board member of Child Cancer Foundation and Ronald McDonald House – as well as a variety of community trustee and voluntary roles around the motu. He holds an MBA and a Masters in Advanced Leadership.
Dan was awarded the Young Maori Business Leader of the Year award and the NZ UoA 40 under 40 award last year.
Vince Ford
Vince Ford
Vince is the author of 16 books for children and teens. He’s won the junior fiction category of the New Zealand Children’s Book Awards, won the children’s choice category three times and been a regular on the Storylines Notable Book List. He’s been a student in the International Writers Program at the University of Iowa.
Vince has presented to thousands of children through the Writers in Schools programme, he’s a member of the New Zealand Professional Speakers Association and president of Tauranga Toastmasters. In addition to being a keynote speaker and MC at community and corporate events Vince has been presenting keynotes and running workshops with Kāhui Ako, Principals Associations and individual schools across the motu.
Life as an award winning author for children and teens was socially isolating. It was slowly killing me. We’re created to be social creatures and I’m on a journey to find how connection can make us healthier, happier and more productive. I’m researching, speaking and writing on Human Connection.
Dave Letele
Dave “The Brown Buttabean” Letele is of Māori and Samoan heritage. As a child, Dave’s father was president of the Mongrel Mob, and he grew up around prisons and criminal activity.
Throughout his life, Dave has experienced massive highs and lows, from early sporting success to the failure of his supermarket business in Australia. He lost everything, including his family, and returned to New Zealand with only the clothes on his back, weighing in at over 200 kgs.
He turned to prize fighting to earn money and get fit, sharing his fitness journey on social media. He lost over 100 kilograms, and the public response to his efforts built up the movement that became Buttabean Motivation or BBM.
For nearly ten years, this community leader has worked tirelessly to create opportunities for people. He has set up free gyms in West and South Auckland, and Tokoroa, a community kitchen, a social supermarket in Tokoroa, and a Foodshare which regularly feeds thousands of people. BBM’s “From The Couch” programme provides never-before-seen health benefits to underserved people. Every year BBM works with the Middlemore Foundation to provide Christmas to hundreds of families doing it tough.
With BBM, Dave has created a model of giving that includes partnering with business and the Government to provide practical help to people, using social media to drive engagement. When Cyclone Gabrielle hit in February 2023, he used the experience gained in the Auckland Anniversary flooding to support families across the East Coast and Hawke’s Bay regions, mobilising local community providers with access to cash for exactly what they needed.
Dave’s outspoken leadership means he is often in the media, and talking to key government and community organisations, agitating for positive change. He shows that negative cycles can be broken, with the right support, good people, and dedication.
Jemarl Paerata
Jemarl Paerata
After almost 20 years as a professional firefighter, Te Kaiarahi’s Founder, Jemarl Paerata decided he wanted to give back to his community in an even bigger way than he already was. He decided to dedicate his life to uplifting and inspiring as many people as he could by encouraging healthy lifestyle choices of the Hinengaro (Mind), Tinana (Body) and Wairua (Soul).
Jemarl lives in Piha on the West coast of Aotearoa. Here you can find him doing the things he’s passionate about, such as surfing, fishing, bushwalking and working with people to help them build better lives for themselves. He has travelled extensively with his son, Elliot, a Professional Surfer and former NZ Open Men’s Surfing Champion. Jemarl was the New Zealand Junior Surf Team Manager in 2008 and 2009 that competed in France and Ecuador.
Te Kaiarahi means to mentor. Their Mission/Kaupapa is to inspire people to reach their full potential through a holistic approach to mentoring based on Te Ao Maori principles and reconnecting to Taiao/Nature.
They run a wide range of workshops aimed at encouraging people to approach life in a positive and productive way. Covering a number of self development and self growth topics which enable our people to make healthy lifestyle choices. Focusing on the power of the mind and controlling our thought patterns.
The thoughts that are dominating your mind have a direct impact on the results you get in life. Changing your thoughts, changes your results. The team at Te Kaiarahi also cover such topics as Nutrition, Hydration, Sleep, Breathing, Thinking and Movement. By taking care of these six fundamentals, we can all live happier healthier lives.
Jemarl also works alongside Dave Wood on the Calm Under Pressure Workshops, providing mind and body training used to prepare elite-level athletes. Dave is best known for being Israel Adesanya’s breathing and mindset coach.