Skip to main content
Tangata · Researcher

Professor Chellie Spiller

<span class=Professor Chellie Spiller " loading="lazy" decoding="async">

Professor of Management and Leadership Associate Dean Māori

Dr Chellie Spiller, of Matawhaiti Iwitea, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, is Professor of Management and Leadership, and Associate Dean Māori at the University of Waikato. She was previously a senior lecturer and Associate Dean Māori and Pacific at the University of Auckland Business School. She has over 30 years of corporate experience in tourism, finance and marketing, holding senior executive positions in New Zealand and abroad, and brings this experience to her academic work and leadership and management development programmes. Her research explores how Māori and indigenous businesses create authentic and sustainable wealth and wellbeing.

Chellie was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Arizona between November 2011 and March 2012. She was a recipient of a 2011 Dame Mira Szászy Māori Alumni Award, 2011 National Māori Academic Excellence Award, and 2010 AuSM Best Lecturer Award, AUT University. In 2013 she released a co-edited book with Professor Donna Ladkin titled Reflections on Authentic Leadership: Concepts, Coalescences and Clashes published by Edward Elgar Press, which was nominated in the top ten leadership books of 2013 (University of San Diego Outstanding Leadership Book Awards).

Chellie is a co-author of a book on traditional Polynesian navigation Wayfinding Leadership: Groundbreaking Wisdom for Developing Leaders with Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr and John Panoho. She is a co-editor of Indigenous spiritualties at work: Transforming the spirit of business enterprise with Dr Rachel Wolfgramm and a co-editor on two special issues: “Intellectual Shamans, Wayfinders, Edgewalkers, Difference Makers, Social Entrepreneurs, and Other Change Makers” for the Journal of Corporate Citizenship and “Indigenous leadership” for Leadership.

Rangahau · Related projects

Research Programme

21-24RP01He oranga whānau: mahi ngātahi: Whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing
Kaiārahi · Project lead Professor Chellie Spiller
Whare wānanga · Host University of Waikato
Matakitenga · Framework
Wā rangahau · Timeline Commenced 2022 · Completed 2025

He oranga whānau: mahi ngātahi: Whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing. These groundbreaking works celebrate Māori futures rooted in kaupapa Māori values while fostering pathways for responsible relationships, meaningful lives, and flourishing Indigenous wellbeing economies. By emphasising the central role of whānau…

View project

Full project

Promoting Effective Māori Leadership and Decision Making for Prosperous Economies of Wellbeing – Te Whakatairanga i te Ārahitanga Whai Hua me te Māori te Whakatau Kaupapa
Whare wānanga · Host Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
Wā rangahau · Timeline Commenced 2016

What are the distinctive dimensions and drivers of innovative Māori leadership and integrated decision making, and how do these characteristics deliver pluralistic outcomes that advance transformative and prosperous Māori economies of wellbeing? A diverse range of Māori leadership practices have contributed to the development of a Māori economy with a…

View project

Ētahi atu · Other people