Dan Walker is the Global Co Chair of Indigenous at Microsoft. He says being Maori is his super power. Is there a place for indigenous knowledge within tech? Are corporations like Microsoft appreciative of the benefits that diverse perspectives from indigenous cultures can bring? What can be done to bring these two worlds together in a way that brings benefits for both parties.

What's it like to be on the boards of some of Australasia's biggest companies? What are some of the attributes of a good director? Is there any difference in being a director of an iwi owned company vs a publicly listed company? With Maori shareholders now expecting their businesses to be more aligned to tikanga/ Maori values when operating, how does that impact on the role of directors?   

Mark Tume is a full time company director. He has been on boards of some of the biggest companies in Autralasia and is currently chair of Infratil, Ngai Tahu Holdings, Te Ati Awa Iwi Holdings and a director of Retire Australia. He had a career in finance and investment, loves his surfing, and is working on his BJJ.   He is also a relation of mine from Ngati Maru in Taranaki. Our ancestors came from a small village, Purangi, which is right up the back of the Waitara River. Looking forward to hearing his thoughts on how we Ngati Maru can prosper moving forwards.

And we are back! Talking to Dr. Rebecca Burke from her home in Germany about the haka performed by a right wing German group. “What the f…k are these people doing?....It’s really bad that someone with this kind of Nazi thinking would declare war on our government with a haka.”  Rebecca has a doctorate from Victoria Uni's Maori department. She has a really interesting story about her journey into te Ao Maori (the Maori World) and a non Maori perspective of what Maori culture can bring to the world. 

Haka Works talks with Rachel Taulelei about her journey into leadership, now as CEO Kono, the Maori owned food and beverage business, the impact that indigenous values have on organisational culture and how Maori and indigenous knowledge can help solve some of the world's biggest problems around sustainable management. 

Rachel is an award-winning entrepreneur and business woman whose values include kaitiakitanga, whanaungatanga and pono – guardianship, relationships and integrity. As former Trade Commissioner, founder of sustainable seafood company Yellow Brick Road, and now CEO of KONO NZ , Māori-owned food and beverage business, Rachel is a champion for New Zealand’s primary industry and the country’s position as a world-class producer of food and beverages. She is passionate about the Maori economy, and about supporting the potential and growth of others. Her governance roles include APEC Business Advisory Council, the Prime Ministers Business Advisory Council, and the Young Enterprise Trust.

Chey and Kahurangi Milne are a Rotorua based communications company with a mission: "kia whakatairanga i te ahurea Māori ki te ao!" the promotion of Maori culture to the world. They come from family with haka pedigree and through their business have been bringing haka and Maori culture to a new generation and bigger audiences through modern media channels. 

The next wave of colonisation is the colonisation of our knowledge." Jamie Tuuta has been managing Maori assets for a long time, in his previous role as Maori Trustee and on commercial boards and trust boards of tribal entities around New Zealand. As tribes settle their land claims, how do we ensure the protection of less tangible assets, our intellectual property? Haka Wrks has seen a huge demand for our cultural property. How do we share it while maintaining our integrity. 

A great opportunity to hear from one of London's Maori legends Bruce Simpson talks about growing up Maori in small-town New Zealand in the 60s and 70s and then heading overseas biking around the US on a Harley Davidson, moving to the UK and finally reconnecting with his culture through London Maori club Ngati Ranana. He now runs Haka UK and teaches haka to people around the world.

Haka Works talks with Toiroa Williams about his journey as a filmmaker and storyteller including time at Sundance in Los Angeles and doing sharing haka and Maori culture with Haka Works.
- Growing up in the tight Maori community of Opotiki that supported his journey into higher education.
- How his Master's thesis became a journey into film making and led to his stint at Sundance in the US.
- Maori idea of leadership is leaders put forward, supported, and backed by the community.
- Sharing haka and Maori culture in the US with Haka Works

I'm catching up with Kane Harnett on Tuesday evening to talk about his journey sharing Maori leadership knowledge to senior leadership teams with Haka X.

"Haka Works talks with Emere Wano. Emere and I know each other from our time in Taranaki when tino rangatiratanga (self determination for ourselves and our culture) was what we lived for. Emere talks about how it was an important time to secure self confidence in being Maori. We talk about her work managing kapa haka tours overseas and as Festival Director for WOMAD NZ, bringing international artists to New Zealand to share and collaborate with New Zealand artists and experience Maori culture.

Amelia Butler's journey as a dancer in Los Angeles and how this lead her to set up Learn Maori Abroad, a business which shares Maori cultural knowledge in the US. Haka Works talks to Amelia about:

• growing up as Maori in Auckland
• how her dance training has influenced her teaching of haka and Maori knowledge
• why people in the US are attracted to haka and Maori culture
• teaching haka as a wahine

Hear from Precious Clark about how her experiences overseas led to her setting up her Te Kaa, her training organisation for sharing Maori leadership knowledge to businesses in New Zealand. Haka Works talks with Precious Clark about:
- being born into a world of protest in Auckland in the 70's.
- Travelling overseas as a lawyer and seeing the impact Maori culture has on audiences as a performer and facilitator
- Setting up Te Kaa with a mission to help 10,000 people identify positively with Maori culture
- cultural appropriation of Maori knowledge

The power of storytelling is not in the story but in how the story is told. Some amazing insights to leadership and team cohesion from best selling author and speaker James Kerr. Haka Works talks to James Kerr about:
- his experience being invited into the All Blacks camp
- sharing leadership insights on the most successful team in the world
- the influence of Maori culture on the All Blacks culture
- How haka changes the feeling in the room and how its the ultimate form of storytelling.

Haka Works talks with Otene Hopa about sharing Maori culture with the world. If you get to the end you will be able to hear Otene sing a beautiful waiata. What we talk about:

• Pausing and contemplation during Covid 19
• His Maori upbringing amongst legends of the haka world including Muriwai Ihakara and Bub and Nan Wehi.
• How the discipline of haka has taught how to operate in the broader world.
• Travelling to India with haka and performing at Westminster Abbey in front of the Queen
• How the language of haka transcends cultural boundaries
• How haka helps connect us to deeper parts of ourselves and to each other
• Should we be teaching haka to non Maori?
• How we can stay grounded as Maori while away from home

Thanks so much to Otene for sharing your knowledge and this korero.
Also on Youtube https://youtu.be/KWUgZUQJ_P8

Kia ora koutou, in case you missed the live version, here is our second podcast Haka & the Matrix (the edited slicker version). This time I talk with Tupoutama Paki about:

• being home schooled immersed in Maori culture with his cousins in the 80's and 90's
• Taking haka to Iraq at the time of Isis
• Should we be teaching haka to non-Maori?
• What else could Maori be sharing with the world?

Our first guest I’ll be talking with is Mr David Jones of Rongowhakaata and Ngati Kahungunu,

David has a legal background, he was a lawyer with Kensington Swan, one of New Zealand’s top law firms. He was a General Manager for a tribal organisation and now runs a communication consultancy. We know David as he is one of our haka performers in Manaia and a facilitator for Haka Works and we’ve worked together in the UK, the US and Japan. Here is what we talk about:

• Adapting technology to continue our customs, especially in the time of lockdown and Covid 19.
• How our traditional knowledge has helps us navigate our way through the demands of the modern world.
• NHS nurses haka that happened last week and people using our cultural knowledge without context or knowing what they’re doing.
• Teaching Maori knowledge overseas and how we can regulate what we do through whakapapa framework.
• Finally we talk about the environment and climate change which ties in nicely with David talking about growing kumara and preparing the seed bed properly so the kumara can grow strong and healthy.

Thanks so much to David for taking time to share his thoughts and korero.