Ana with her husband Greg, and sons Reone (6) and Taokahu (8).

Ngāti Whakaue (Ngati Pukaki, Ngati Tunohopu)Ngāti Tuwharetoa (Ngati Turumakina)Ngāti Pakeha.
Ana Morrison, a science-loving wife and mother-of-two, has just landed her dream job.

A pohiri was held at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology’s Tangatarua Marae last week to welcome Ana as its new Executive Director – Strategic Partnerships & Māori Success.

“I truly feel like I am in the right role, right organisation, and at the right time to effect positive change for our people across the rohe,” she says.

The fact that it takes her two minutes to drive to work or an 8-minute walk is just an added bonus of living in Rotorua.

Our high achieving member of Te Tatau has a Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Science, and Postgraduate Certificate in Law (Corporate Governance). She has a diverse portfolio of governance roles, from iwi commercial, government appointments, private companies, and brings her law, risk, policy and strategy skills to the Te Tatau table.

She unwittingly became a member of the Te Tatau board when she attended a Ngati Whakaue hui on the partnership model in a facilitation role. It was there that she was approached and told to accept a nomination on the board.

“I’d been involved at a grassroots level with the ‘I Support the Te Arawa Partnership’ online campaign – which helped to mobilise our people in force and at scale to make submissions in support. I really love strategy and governance and I think my legal and risk background is an advantage in being able to analyse information quickly and respond constructively. Like the others on the board, we combine our technical skills with a Te Arawa-centric and manawhenua lense. That is where I think we add huge value to RLC.

“I want to see RLC engaging our people proactively and Te Arawa influencing RLC’s processes so they meet our needs and aspirations. Personally I want to see more Māori in senior leadership roles in council.

“We’re super independent as hapu/iwi but when we come together around a kaupapa – it is powerful. I hope we can do more of this collaborative mahi.”

Like all busy mana wahine, Ana enjoys her downtime, choosing to spend it with her whanau, on retail therapy – especially shoes – and of course, a lazy wine.

If Ana had one key message to share with Te Arawa about Te Tatau, what would it be?

“This is the start of a long journey. There is so much more to do to transform the partnership to one that fully meets Te Arawa expectations. We all have a role to play in that journey.”