Young Māori Business Leaders Sought For New Sir Hugh Kawharu Foundation Fellowship

Young New Zealand Māori business leaders will be targeted by a new fellowship aimed at supporting and growing initiatives based around the development of talented Māori students.

The fellowship – a three-to-six month programme for an early to mid-career Māori leader aged between 30 and 45 – will be offered this year by the Sir Hugh Kawharu Foundation, in partnership with The University of Auckland Business School.

The Foundation works to encourage entrepreneurial skills, academic achievement, business skills and potential leadership qualities among Māori.

The inaugural recipient will have a plan of study developed for them that complements their area of specialisation, and be mentored to expose them to the best minds at the Business School, Dean Professor Greg Whittred says.

“We are very keen that the first recipient breaks the ground for future Fellows by engaging with the student body, and helping to support and grow our initiatives that are specifically pointed at developing our talented and valuable Māori students,” he says.

The Fellow may take part in the MBA curriculum, Leadership Institute programmes, short courses and the executive programme, as well as benefit from an academic mentor who will help navigate the learning journey, Professor Whittred says.

The Foundation, named after the distinguished academic and paramount chief of Ngāti Whātua, is a charitable trust established to provide opportunities for rising Māori students, businesspeople and tribal leaders, and sets new horizons for the coming generations.

Sir Hugh, a geology and physics graduate from The University of Auckland, also gained an MA in anthropology from Cambridge University, and a MLitt and DPhil in anthropology from Oxford University over a distinguished career.

Between 1985 and 1993, he was professor of Māori Studies and head of the University’s Department of Anthropology, where he directed the building of the Waipapa Marae. He was named an emeritus professor after he retired.

A representative on the Waitangi Tribunal, Sir Hugh served on the Royal Commission of the Courts, the New Zealand Māori Council and the Board of Māori Affairs, and was New Zealand’s delegate to UNESCO and a consultant to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

He was knighted in 1989 and appointed a member of the Order of New Zealand in 2002. He died four years later.

Applications for the Sir Hugh Kawharu Foundation Fellowship for 2012 will be open until 31 May 2012.