Meet Rereahu, our new Senior Strategist – Kaupapa Māori for Healthy Families South Auckland

Healthy Families South Auckland, based at The Southern Initiative, has welcomed Rereahu Collier (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tamaterā) to the team as its new Senior Strategist – Kaupapa Māori.

Raised in south Auckland, Rereahu has been working in the local government space for several years, both as a Māori Specialist Librarian for Auckland Libraries and recently as Design and Innovation Specialist – Mātauranga Māori with Te Taiwhanga Rangatahi.

Growing up around south Auckland, he has learnt to appreciate the different communities and wishes to see the south Auckland population achieve better health outcomes.

He has already stepped in as a co-lead for the Kia ora Te Whānau initiative, reimagining what a well-being community hub could look like in south Auckland if created in partnership between local government and whānau.

“The best part so far has been the chance to meet the people before meeting the work,” he says. “I was able to attend the recent Healthy Families New Zealand hui and with Kia ora Te Whānau I was able to meet those currently involved in the initiative, and that is something that doesn’t always happen in new roles.”

“Being involved with an initiative like Kia ora Te Whānau has been a good opportunity to see not only how we can make systematic shifts within Auckland Council, but also what those teams and services are already doing when it comes to systems change.”

Rereahu will be bringing valuable knowledge in mātauranga Māori to the Healthy Families South Auckland team.

“My family has always advocated for te ao Māori to flourish within Aotearoa, and working at Healthy Families South Auckland I see a chance to help plant that kaupapa into current initiatives.”

Healthy Families South Auckland manager Winnie Hauraki says the addition of Rereahu comes at an important time for the team.

“We have been focused on intentionally applying mātauranga Māori at the centre of our work. We were lucky to have Atarau Pouwhare-Ellis lay the groundwork of that mahi and with Rereahu joining he will be able to continue to grow the team’s overall understanding of mātauranga Māori within our initiatives, frameworks, storytelling and more.”