To become an Honorary Fellow with New Zealand Engineering is to be recognised as an exceptional person committed to supporting and advancing fields of engineering, technology or science. And Tania Pouwhare, Ngāi Tūhoe, is exactly that. She has pioneered opportunities for Māori and Pasifika-owned businesses in construction and infrastructure fields. Through championing social procurement within contracts at Auckland Council, more Māori and Pasifika-owned businesses have been able to participate in Auckland infrastructure projects.

Under Tania’s influence, Auckland Council has set a new benchmark of any public institution in New Zealand. $40 million has been awarded through contracts to Māori and Pasifika businesses in 2020 alone. She has also been involved in the development of businesses through Amotai (previously He Waka Eke Noa) which connects Māori and Pasifika businesses with buyers nationally. “Part of our plan is to strengthen and energise the businesses because the public sector can be slow, risk averse and complicated. Amotai are pushing from the inside for it to be agile, innovative and visionary. We’ve shown that it is possible in large bureaucracies and there’s no reason why the demand-side can’t up its game at pace. With an economic recovery ahead of is, it’s crucial we do so” says Tania.

Warner Cowin, Director of Height Project Management and member of Amotai, asserts “Tania has led the discussion on procurement and its ability to create social and economic equity for Māori and Pasifika peoples for the last eight years. Not only has she championed access to business opportunity within government, but she also has led initiatives to build business development, commercial and health and safety competency, particularly within the construction sector. Tenacious in her approach, she’s not been afraid to be decisive to reach an outcome, which within a Māori context can be challenging when there are competing perspectives from multiple parties”.

The net result of her work has been the emergence of Amotai, as well as building subcontractor and supplier capability within the construction sector to deliver the New Zealand Upgrade Programme (NZUP). This will see Māori and Pasifika business have a share of the $6.8 billion that the government will invest in nationwide transport infrastructure. This is a massive opportunity for the businesses, one that has not been as readily available before.

Tania was especially honoured to be included in such a prestigious membership of Fellows and award winners. Silver Medal winner Troy Brockbank for his work on naturalizing te ao Māori in engineering, and Sina Cotter-Tait who received the Fulton-Downer Gold Medal. As an indigenous engineer Sina says “It was amazing to be recognised by my industry. All my work is shared, supported, and inspired by people like Tania and the Amotai Crew, Troy Brockbank and others. But it filled me with hope that my profession values indigenous ways of looking at the world, and the contributions we have to offer”.Tania’s nomination is significant to the industry, given there are only three other Māori Fellows out of around 700. “Seeing her nominated as a Fellow meant a lot, because it means my profession recognises the importance of the value of the work she and Amotai have been doing. It’s a real milestone” says Sina.

For Tania, the experience was an opportunity to reiterate the need for everyone to raise the bar in how Māori and Pasifika peoples are progressed in the industry, “I’m really proud to have played a small part in helping to change mindsets and practices to level the playing field and am very privileged to be a māngai for everyone’s hard work, especially the small and medium-sized enterprises who are the backbone of our Māori and Pasifika economies”. Tania’s contribution and dedication to her work with Māori and Pasifika businesses has yield tangible and outstanding results.

To find out more about Amotai and its work visit www.amotai.nz. To learn more about Engineering New Zealand visit www.engineeringnz.org.