AboutHP

Unity and diversity in HPF board

March 13, 2017

Question: What do an Indian health manager a pākehā academic and two Māori leaders have in common? Answer: They are all board members of the Health Promotion Forum (HPF). OK, so it wasn’t funny, but it is worth celebrating the diversity of culture, skills and interests and the shared vision and unity of our board.  “Equally heartening is the fact they all share an understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Ottawa Charter as the founding documents for health promotion in the New Zealand context,” says Executive Director Sione Tu’itahi

• Richard Egan is the ‘pakeha academic’; a lecturerat the School of Public Health, University of Otago.
• Lance Norman is chief executive of the regional Māori health provider, Hapai Te Hauora.
• His colleague at Hapai and fellow HPF Board member, Zoe Hawke, is the Kaiwhakahaere , National Māori Tobacco Control Leadership Service.
• Vishal Rishi, originally from India, is the Programme Manager of The Asian Network Inc., a national Asian health provider.

Richard, Lance, Zoe and Vishal joined our board at our 2014 AGM, to work alongside two other Maori professionals, a Pacific health leader and a kaumatua, the latter of whom provides advice and guidance.  They are:

• Ana Apatu, Chairperson and Chief Executive of U-Turn Trust, Hastings
• Tevita Funaki, Treasurer and Chief Executive Office of The Fono
• Tau Huirama,
• Richard Wallace, HPF Kaumatua

Our board has a wide range of skills and is united in its vision, goals and action.  The recently elected board is now guiding the team to achieve the goals and outcomes of its five-year plan, 2013-2018 drafted late last year.   April 2014 By Sione Tu’itahi Edited by Jo Lawrence-King