Tina Porou | Founder | Poipoia 

Tina is of Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngai Tāmanuhiri and Ngāti Rakaipaaka descent and founded Poipoia, a kaupapa Māori company committed to providing environmental services to iwi, the public and private sector. These services are derived from the holistic principles of kaitiakitanga.

Tina has worked as an environmental planner and a Tangata Whenua advocate in the natural resource management space for over 20 years on projects that have included developing papakainga houses for social wellbeing, facilitating environmental restoration programmes, engaging in national policy interventions on water, climate change and biodiversity while working with iwi and councils to enable stronger decision making and sharing relationships.

This broad range of work provides a strong platform for sustainable and innovative development approaches, all from a Tangata Whenua perspective. Pathways to partnership looks at kaitiakitanga aspirations and explores how together we can make a difference.

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Andrea Reid |Urban Designer & Landscape Architect | Urban Edge Planning Limited

Andrea has a dream: It will cover the length of the country. It will form slowly over 3-5 years as people take action, seeds grow, and pollinators find habitat.

The Great NZ Pollinator Path will not be a line on a map but an observation of where life is thriving and adjust as life adjusts. This adventure is about creating an intergenerational legacy for our environment and our people.

Pollinator Paths is a global movement that aims to connect parks and reserves together to make pollination pathways. It's the brainchild of Andrea Reid, who's been working on the concept since early 2014. It began as a university thesis in her final year of a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree.

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Simon Britten | Te Ora Hou Ōtautahi

I value a connected community that cares for all of its members and am passionate about making a contribution.

Simon has a leadership role with the Attendance Service across Canterbury, Marlborough, Tasman, and the West Coast, and is an elected member of the Waipapa/Papanui-Innes Community Board. He lives and works in the Papanui Ward in Christchurch and is the founder and curator of the Think Papanui community engagement initiative.

He currently works for Te Ora Hou Ōtautahi, an organisation committed to holistic development of young people, their whānau, and communities. The Te Ora Hou Ōtautahi team consists of qualified and highly experienced youth workers who operate in the heart of the Papanui community, with the community and for the community running several programmes in schools, out of school and during all of the school holiday periods.

Simon’s community service includes youth development, a high school enterprise scheme, a transitional youth employment project, and support for children of prisoners.

Rachel Esson | Te Pouhuaki National Librarian

Appointed Te Pouhuaki National Librarian on 17 December 2020, Rachel Esson is responsible for leading all National Library services in New Zealand.  She also contributes to the leadership of the Information and Knowledge Services branch of the Department of Internal Affairs.

Previously Director Content Services of the National Library, Rachel is the first internal appointment to the role. Rachel is a professionally registered librarian who has held senior and strategic roles in academic and research libraries for many years. She has researched and published in the area of evaluation of library services.

Her previous roles have included Associate Chief Librarian Alexander Turnbull Library, Associate Director Library Academic Services at Victoria University, and Medical Librarian (University of Otago, Wellington). She is a fellow of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) and is actively involved with association governance.

Kate Macnaught | General Manager |Taituarā

General Manager, Sector Projects Taituarā, Kate is responsible for developing the Well-beings Indicator Project as well as other developments in the sector Improvement area for Taituarā.

Kate’s previous roles have included Policy Manager at LGNZ where she worked on Better Local Government Reforms, the Productivity Review on Regulation, as well as other policy areas. Prior to that, she was Strategy and Policy Manager at New Plymouth District Council.

Co-Cr8 started as a conversation between Kate and PLNZ Executive Director, Hilary Beaton in 2019. Funding from the NLPP has enabled a coordinated approach to national data collection that is sharable and reusable by others within, the public library sector.

The resulting Co-Cr8 Project brings together the data intelligence of the Well-being Data Warehouse, already being used within almost 50 councils, and within PLNZ’s LibPAS data from 300+ libraries nationally, linking the library data to well-being outcomes to make a compelling case for public libraries in the future.

Marion Read | Libraries Advisor | LGNZ

Marion Read is the Libraries Advisor for LGNZ taking up the role in November 2021 after spending 6 years as the Libraries Manager, Upper Hutt City.
Previously Marion’s library management experience included senior roles in Invercargill, Whangarei, Tauranga, and Auckland. In 2021, Marion was awarded the LIANZA Fellowship in recognition of her contribution to New Zealand Libraries.
Marion is known for her passion for public libraries and the communities they serve. In 2021 Marion successfully advocated for the removal of overdue fines including historic fines debt and has since used tis experience to provide support for the Fines Free Aotearoa 2025 project.
In her role as LGNZ Libraries Advisor, Marion draws on her key strengths of advocacy and building positive working relationships to achieve positive outcomes for public libraries throughout Aotearoa. In her presentation she will discuss key elements of successful advocacy as she describes her role within LGNZ and how Library Managers can support this mahi.  

Kim Taunga | ALIANZA |Head of Community Delivery South Connected Communities, Auckland Council

Kim is LIANZA’s President-Elect. Her association with LIANZA began in the ‘90s as a brand-new library assistant. Since then, she has held various positions on LIANZA Council and regional committees over the years. Her Dad’s family are from Rarotonga and Mangaia in the Cook Islands, and she is an enthusiastic supporter and member of PIMN, (Pasifika Information Management Network), a LIANZA Special Interest Group.

Kim currently works for Auckland Council as Head of Community Delivery South. Her portfolio encompasses several art galleries, community centres and community-led facilities along with community development staff and, 14 of the 56 public libraries in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Harley Kaihe-Katterns| Cultural Advisor

Tēnā koutou katoa
Ko Whakarongorua te Maunga
Ko Utakura te Awa
Ko Ngātokimatawhaorua te Waka
Ko Ngāpuhi te Iwi
Ko Ngāti Toro te Hapū
Ko Mataitaua me Mokonui-a-Rangi te Marae
Ko Harley Kaihe-Katterns tōku ingoa.

My journey with libraries began back in 2019 when I was the Māori and Heritage Coordinator for Kāpiti Coast District Libraries. This is where I also began to work alongside PLNZ to tautoko kaupapa Māori related mahi. Currently, I work for Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu (South Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency) as the Relationship and Engagement Manager working with and supporting our 62 Partners and 123 Navigators throughout Te Waipounamu. I am delighted to return for the 2022 National Forum with Tangimeriana Rua to welcome you all.