Dr Emily Afoa

A guiding whakataukī for Dr Emily Afoa’s practice is: Ka ora te wai, ka ora te whenua. Ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata – If the water is healthy, the land will be nourished. If the land is nourished, the people will be provided for.

“When I made the decision to enter into consulting engineering, I never expected to be a business owner, nor did I expect the prominence of mātauranga and tikanga Māori in my daily life,” she says.

As co-director of consulting firm Tektus, Emily leads a team of 18 with the purpose of creating better outcomes for us all – our people, our places, our planet. Tektus works with government agencies, councils and developers, as well as iwi and community groups, on projects spanning land development and resource consenting, public infrastructure design and delivery, catchment scale water management and water-sensitive urban design.

“I am proud of what we are creating at Tektus. Our team are insightful and values-led, collaborating with other like-minded specialists to achieve quality outcomes,” Emily says.

“Within that we are normalising the valuing of mātauranga Māori in engineering practice, to achieve te mana me te mauri o te wai.” 

Emily’s experience across local government, academia and consultancy environments has helped her become a respected and valued professional. She is often called upon to be part of national technical committees and steering groups due to her unique intermediary skills.

She credits her University lecturers for encouraging her to follow pathways that sparked personal interest and purpose. Dr Elizabeth Fassman-Beck and Dr Robyn Simcock “ignited my passion for water-sensitive design and alternate ways of working with water”. And Dr Kepa Morgan encouraged Emily to connect with te ao Māori, recognising indigenous values in engineering practice. “He grew my knowledge of mauri-based assessment frameworks and the alignment between Māori values and water systems,” says Emily. Dr Morgan was a senior lecturer in Civil Engineering for 17 years and significantly raised the status of a Māori worldview in engineering teaching and practice in Aotearoa. He also introduced Emily to the South Pacific Indigenous Engineering Students group (SPIES), where she forged lifelong networks and friendships with her fellow members, many of whom have gone on to join the Māori and Pacific engineering alumni group South Pacific Professional Engineering Excellence (SPPEEx).

Beyond Tektus, Emily actively gives back to her profession and industry bodies. She is a board member of the Association of Consulting and Engineering NZ, a former committee member of the Water New Zealand Stormwater Group and is driving for change across the water industry through guest lecturing at academic institutes, authoring te ao Māori content, presenting educational webinars, sharing her knowledge and speaking with young water professionals. She also contributes to regenerative think tanks and kōrero with iwi, hapū and whānau regarding water reforms.

“I think collectively we are all pushing for change and seeking new ways to operate. We are facing complex and wicked problems as a society, and business-as-usual is no longer adequate. I hope to keep driving for change – wherever I have the ability to influence.”