Mike Rewi is the founder and CEO of Mana Tāhuna Charitable Trust, a Kaupapa Māori organisation dedicated to improving environmental, health, and social outcomes for Māori, Pasifika, and low-income communities across Central Otago and Aotearoa. Beyond his work at Mana Tāhuna, Mike is also a volunteer basketball coach at WHS, a trustee on Shaping Our Futures Inc., Rewiring Aotearoa and holds advisory roles within Waka Kotahi-ensuring community voice is woven throughout government strategy and policy. 

In this Alumni Spotlight, Mike shares how his time at WHS shaped him as a leader and sparked his passion for community engagement, reflects on how to best support Māori youth and communities, and recalls a memorable moment when principal Oded Nathan went above and beyond for him.

"My advice for teachers and staff at WHS-in terms of what Māori kids could be going through or dealing with-is there are resources out there that are free and available, whether it's an SIT course, or a Te Reo course, or a Te Tiriti course. Because a lot of what we were told growing up isn't accurate, you know? So there is a lot of self-learning that needs to happen. I had to self-learn to really understand what my tūpuna, my great-grandparents, and my parents even really went through. So there's a lot of learning that needs to happen, but that's on us-that's on all of us, on all New Zealanders, all teachers to do that and understand that. And get to know your students."  

Check out the full interview here.