The Bay of Plenty has the third largest Māori population in Aotearoa/ New Zealand. We have a unique Māori profile that shows we have a young and growing population with over 35 Iwi, more than 230 hapū and over 163 marae and one third of the entire Māori economy sits within our region. Despite these macro drivers, Māori are still over-represented in all the negative social and economic indicators across the board.

Toi Kai Rawa Trust’s strategic imperative is to

• Ignite and strengthen the talent pool of Māori progressing into high value STEAM opportunities

Our focus

• Foster collaboration and opportunities with STEAM providers and those in the education and training sector to drive a unified and holistic approach to STEAM pathways across the entire age-spectrum.
• Build the pool of Māori talent and support them to high value STEAM pathways by increasing Māori STEAM aspiration, participation and skill attainment across education, training, employment and entrepreneurship.
• Build a coordinated approach to Māori STEAM initiatives, cadetships, internships, scholarships and high value employment opportunities for Māori.
• Identify the gaps, co-design and deploy prototypes that are scalable across the wider Bay of Plenty region