Our people are at the heart of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. Across Aotearoa and beyond, our whānau of researchers, students, partners, and professional staff are united by a shared commitment to advancing Māori knowledge, innovation, and excellence. Explore the profiles below to learn more about the diverse individuals who contribute to our research community and help shape a flourishing future for Māori.
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NPM Whānau · Search Our People
Tautoko · Support & governance 11
Dr Sonia Garcia Garcia
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Pouhere Rangahau
Sonia Garcia grew up in Spain with Catalan, Galician and Spanish as her family languages. Her career has largely…
Dr Sonia Garcia Garcia
Sonia Garcia grew up in Spain with Catalan, Galician and Spanish as her family languages. Her career has largely focused on policy and programme management.In the Catalan public service, Sonia designed and managed grants and programmes to support the internationalisation of Catalan literature. She later pursued her interest in fisheries, earning a PhD from the University of Technology Sydney for research on Australian fisheries policy.Sonia moved to Aotearoa in 2020 and worked as a Senior Policy Analyst and Programme Manager in the international fisheries team at the Ministry for Primary…
Sarah-Maru Berghan
Te Rarawa, Ngātiwai, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tarāwhai
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Pouhere Whakaaweawe
As Pouhere Whakaaweawe at NPM, she helps drive positive change through grants, awards, and the Research portfolio, all…
Sarah-Maru Berghan
As Pouhere Whakaaweawe at NPM, she helps drive positive change through grants, awards, and the Research portfolio, all grounded in Māori values. Drawing on a wealth of experience in the tertiary sector, including her recent work in research services at Waipapa Taumata Rau’s Faculty of Science, she is committed to advancing excellence and supporting our people.
Cheryle Rewha Willoughby
Ngāti Kuta, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Kaihāpai Hautaka, Pouhere Kaiwhakarite
Cheryle has a BA in Media/Marketing and Māori studies from Massey University. Diploma in Project Management (TWWOA) and…
Cheryle Rewha Willoughby
Cheryle has a BA in Media/Marketing and Māori studies from Massey University. Diploma in Project Management (TWWOA) and Sales Management, Business Studies (AUT). Her background is advertising and marketing working at Wilson & Horton Ltd for 12 years as EA and Sales Exec. Also in Event Management and Operations, finance, HR, sales and training.She has worked with her whanau and hapu over 35 years. As a secretary, trustee and negotiator, for the Hauai whenua claim and the first successful settlement with the Crown, on behalf of her hapu.Working as a Marketing Consultant with Dept of Labour…
Ahere Hapi
Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Muriwhenua
Kanapu
Pou Hapori
Ahere (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Muriwhenua) proudly comes from the timber town of Tokoroa and has connections to both Maketu…
Ahere Hapi
Ahere (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Muriwhenua) proudly comes from the timber town of Tokoroa and has connections to both Maketu and Te Taitokerau. She is a passionate facilitator having worked with highly vulnerable youth to gain sustainable employment and life skills, as well as hapori throughout the Taupō-Ruapehu area to improve community engagement when conducting the 2023 Census. She has also worked with whānau in the Emergency Housing sector to navigate systems in order to reach better living circumstances, on top of several student-based roles to improve experience and participation in…
Cindy McQuade
Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao, Tūwharetoa
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Pouhere Whakapā
Cindy McQuade is the communications advisor for NPM. She has a varied career in the media, working both as a journalist…
Cindy McQuade
Cindy McQuade is the communications advisor for NPM. She has a varied career in the media, working both as a journalist and free-lance writer and as a graphic designer for many years. She holds a Bachelor of Social Science, majoring in Political Science, Bachelor of Media Art, majoring in graphic design, and Cert. Journalism.
Paora Sharples
Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Pou
Paora is Kaihautu Tikanga (Te reo me ngā tikanga Māori leader) at NPM and also a Professional Teaching Fellow at the…
Paora Sharples
Paora is Kaihautu Tikanga (Te reo me ngā tikanga Māori leader) at NPM and also a Professional Teaching Fellow at the Department of Māori Studies, University of Auckland where he lectures in Kapahaka, Traditional & Contemporary Māori Performing Arts and Te Reo Māori. He has had a significant career in kapahaka as well as traditional and contemporary Māori performing arts, including areas of performing, teaching/training, directing, judging as well as choreography and composition within this indigenous genre of dance. Paora has also spent 30 years developing, teaching and promoting the art of…
Marie-Chanel Berghan
Te Rarawa, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Te Arawa
Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
Pouhere Matua
Marie-Chanel Berghan looks after the financial, contract and operations (physical resources and infrastructure)…
Marie-Chanel Berghan
Marie-Chanel Berghan looks after the financial, contract and operations (physical resources and infrastructure) management of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. As well as managing the publications, specifically the two NPM Journals; AlterNative and MAI Journal. Marie-Chanel has a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration and in Business, Māori Development. Before joining the centre, she was the Whakapiki Ake Project Manager at The University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences for five years and prior to that, a Project Administration Manager at Hewlett Packard.
Emeritus Professor Poia Rewi
Ngāti Manawa, Tūhoe, Te Arawa
Kanapu
Pouhere Kanapu
Happily married with children and mokos who make life so refreshing. My teaching, research and practice included…
Emeritus Professor Poia Rewi
Happily married with children and mokos who make life so refreshing. My teaching, research and practice included Indigenous language revitalisation, te reo me ngā tikanga Māori, Māori oratory, Māori performing arts and Māori history and have spanned the University of Waikato 1990-2003 and the University of Otago 2023-2020. Poia has also held leadership roles at Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori and Te Mātāwai. And if he didn’t have 5 operations on his achilles tendon he would have definitely been an All Black and a competitor on Dancing with Stars.
Dr Tim West-Newman
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Pouhere Pūnaha
Tim West-Newman develops and implements technical business solutions including websites for Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga…
Dr Tim West-Newman
Tim West-Newman develops and implements technical business solutions including websites for Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. Tim has a PhD in Human Computer Interaction and has worked mainly in web and information technology systems development, having worked in The University of Auckland and AUT University, as well as an independent contractor for various organisations.
Honorine Franswah
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Pouhere Whakahaere
Honorine Franswah is the Research Operation Coordinator in Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and assists with the contracts…
Honorine Franswah
Honorine Franswah is the Research Operation Coordinator in Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and assists with the contracts, finance and all the administrative functions of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. Honorine obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics major with auxiliary subjects Commerce and Statistics at the University of Madras and brings substantial administrative experience from nearly 20 years involvement in the manufacturing sector in India. She provided administrative support at The University of Auckland prior to taking up her role at the Centre
Daniel Patrick
Ngāti Pākehā, Irish, Danish
Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
Kaiwhakahaere Matua: Executive Director
Daniel is the Executive Director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, and has been since 2011. He directs and plans the entire…
Daniel Patrick
Daniel is the Executive Director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, and has been since 2011. He directs and plans the entire Centre’s business activities, including contracting, financial operations, resources planning, risk management, systems and performance measures and manages the Centre's investment portfolios. Daniel holds two degrees, a Bachelor's degree in Applied Sciences and a Master's degree in Health Sciences with honours, and is a member of the Project Management Institute and PM practitioner. He came to the Centre having been the Research Programme Manager for the Social Statistics…