Anna-Jane Edwards
Manukura – Amotai
Anna-Jane Edwards is the Manukura for Amotai. She is driven by an unwavering belief that every child has the right to thrive in Aotearoa. This has led her to explore how economics, indigenous knowledge systems, co-design and systems thinking can be brought together to disrupt the conditions preventing all people from living full and prosperous lives.
Her roles in health and local government over the past 15 years have explored this concept, eventually leading her to co-found Amotai in 2018 where she has recently returned as Manukura.
Anna-Jane believes that supplier diversity, where organisations buy more goods and services from diverse suppliers, is one of the biggest opportunities to grow meaningful economic step-change for Māori and Pasifika.
Anna-Jane shares her home time between raising a resilient, happy, socially and environmentally conscious little boy and participating at a governance level on a number of organisations including the New Zealand Drug Foundation and Hawaiki Hou Sport New Zealand.