Message from our GM – TSI ePanui November 2023

Mālō nī, fakaalofa lahi atu, kia orāna, tālofa lava, mālō e lelei, tālofa, ni sa bula vinaka, noa'ia, mauri, tēnā koutou katoa and warm Pacific greetings.

Today is my final day at Auckland Council, and with the amazing TSI team. It has been a genuine pleasure and honour to have been part of, and be witness to, this ground breaking mahi.

Being part of TSI has been a significant and unique experience both personally and professionally. The team has made me proud every day, and I’ve been very fortunate to work with such talented and smart ‘positive disrupters’.

I also want to acknowledge Gael Surgenor’s role in building this impressive team and kaupapa (and recruiting me as one of the country’s first intrapreneurs!), and everyone who has been part of our TSI whānau over the last seven years, including the resplendent Fiona Cunningham, our former comms guru, who passed away in 2019 and is dearly missed by many of us at council.

As I head off on my next adventure, I’ve been reflecting on the difference we’ve made in systems change whilst benefiting whānau, ‘aiga and rangatahi on the ground at the same time. From the humble beginnings of our early experimental work (flying by the seat of our pants), TSI have scaled up into significant policy levers and continue to scale deep to really understand the conditions needed for equity and intergenerational wellbeing. None of this has been easy – transformative change is hard, fraught, and intensive work.

I’m really proud of the people I have gotten to work with. We are majority Māori and Pasifika and are also exceptionally fortunate to have staunch tauiwi allies from around the world in our team too; it is integral to our successes and our holding the line on equity because we know it matters.

It is certainly a wrench to be moving on, and I will miss my work mates most of all, but I’m leaving TSI in the incredibly capable hands of the new general manager, Pam Elgar (Ngāruahine, Te Ātiawa). Pam has a stellar career across the public, private and NGO sectors, and her last role was CEO of the highly regarded Make A Wish Foundation. She has a number of board roles and is well known in the sports world, both here and abroad. On top of these credentials, she is also an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit! I’m thrilled that Pam has joined us and you’ll be hearing more from Pam in the very near future.

Finally, I would like to sincerely thank all of our partners and cheerleaders. There are far too many of you to name, but you have all been part of what has made my time at council and TSI spectacular. He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa.

Noho ora mai. Ā tōna wā ki tōna wāhi.

Nā, Tania Pouwhare, Kaiwhakahaere Matua/General Manager