Aroha Mane

For Aroha Mane, the decision to enrol in the Postgraduate Diploma in Business -
Māori Development (PGDipBus (Māori Dev)) did not come without a few
reservations. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to return to academic study;
after all, completing her undergraduate degree while juggling the
responsibilities of solo parenting had been a significant challenge.

However, the overwhelmingly positive stories she had heard about the qualification over
the course of her work at Whakaata Māori (Māori Television) convinced her to
commit: “Being in media and journalism, we get to interview quite a few people,
and there were some who were making quite major moves for their communities and
had credited the programme.” The prospect of following in the footsteps of
high-achieving graduates like Rereata Makiha (a past winner of a University of
Auckland Aotearoa Māori Business Leaders award) was an appealing one; so too
was the opportunity to learn from esteemed academics like the late Dr Mānuka Hēnare.
“In a Māori environment of tuakana-teina [the learning relationship between an
older (tuakana) person and a younger (teina) person], you are hungry for what
your tuakana have to give to you,” she explains. “[Study] is a lot more
enjoyable when you’re an adult, because you're not just chasing marks, you're
chasing lessons.”

For Aroha, the programme certainly delivered in this – and every other – respect. Her
initial doubts over whether a “mainstream institution” like the University of
Auckland Business School could genuinely educate within a Māori world view were
immediately dispelled under the “eye-opening” teaching of renowned scholars
like “Pāpā Mānuka”. As well as gaining essential practical skills like “getting
a real sense of how to manage, how to train; how to create business strategies;
how to read analytics and how to use those analytics to improve,” she relished
the opportunity to learn more about “people who have been raised with Māori
values and are trying to make a difference in that world…[the programme] has
highlighted that the world is valuing indigenous world views of ensuring a
business thrives. We can now use our own Māori world view business models – our
world view and our values are going to be leading in that space.”

Just as significantly, the programme imbued her and her cohort with a sense of their
own value as individuals. “A lot of us who did the course realised our worth
and what we could contribute...[consequently] a lot of us changed jobs and
progressed.” Similarly, the whanaungatanga within her cohort – cited by so many
other graduates as one of the programme’s most unique and valuable features –
proved to be another highlight. “That’s what the programme is about – that’s a
given. Everyone is from different walks of life, and you end up helping each
other.” As an example, she remembers one member of their cohort who was working
at the time in logistics. “I found out that he was a good writer and ended up
bringing him to Māori TV. Then he went to TVNZ, and now he's the communications
manager for Tūwharetoa [Māori Trust Board].”

For Aroha, completing the Postgraduate Diploma in Business - Māori Development led to a
new role as the University of Auckland’s first Māori media advisor, a role she
loved as it enabled her to bring amazing, uniquely Māori stories of achievement
to light. The PGDipBus also proved a valuable pathway to further study: still “hungry”
to learn, she applied for and gained entry into the Master of Business
Administration (MBA) programme at the University of Auckland Business School. While
she completes her MBA, she is back working at Māori Television, training,
mentoring, and inspiring the next generation just as she was inspired before
them. The programme has been “life-changing”, she says with genuine emotion.
“[My cohort] are all in positions where we can create impact for our
communities. We’re leading the world – I’m so excited for indigenous peoples
and their future.”