An author and language revitalisation strategist, served as an executive of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Ngāi Tahu Holdings for several years, Charisma is also a founding director of business consultancy, Naia. Appointed in 2015, she was named Deputy Chair the following year and reappointed in 2018.

“Some people call it a marathon, I like to call it a relay, because it’s an intergenerational strategy. It takes a lot longer than what people want. It takes one generation to lose the language, it takes three generations to restore it, so it’s a long game.”

A leading language revitalisation expert, academic and author, Professor Higgins is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Māori) at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington. She is also a member of the Waitangi Tribunal and a board member of Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga (Māori Centre of Research Excellence). In 2015 she was appointed to the Māori Language Advisory Group which helped shape Te Ture mō te Reo Māori 2016 (The Māori Language Act 2016) and the associated policy framework. She has been honoured with several awards including the 2020 Pou Aronui Award by the Royal Society Te Apārangi and the Matariki Te Waitī Award for te reo and tikanga in 2017. Professor Higgins was elected to the UN Global Task Force for Making a Decade of Action for Indigenous Languages in February 2021. Appointed to the board of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori in 2015, in 2018 she became the first woman to chair the commission.

An award-winning language expert, cultural advisor and graduate of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo, Dr MacLeod has been leading the inter-generational language revitalisation strategy, Kahungunu, Kia Eke!, for his Ngāti Kahungunu iwi for several years. An experienced director, he was appointed in 2019.

Former Māori language lecturer at Waikato University and former Kaitiaki Reo of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, Dr Te Haumihiata Mason ONZM has been appointed to our Board in 2025.

Te Haumihiata has taught the Māori language for more than 30 years, she worked on He Pātaka Kupu, is a licensed practising English to Māori translator who has also translated a number of literary texts, including works by William Shakespeare. The latter is a challenge she enjoys.

Te Atamira has had a distinguished career spanning over 40 years in theatre, film, television, musical and radio as an actor, director, teacher, and accredited intimacy coordinator/ kairuruku taupiringa. She has been widely recognised for her contributions, receiving an ONZM in 2007 and a CNZM in 2019 for her services to the arts and community, as well as a Woman of Influence award. In 2020, she was named Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year. 

Te Atamira has been a student of te reo Māori since 2008, studying at Pūkenga (Unitec),  Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau (AUT), Mumu Reo and many kura reo.   

“I envision a nation that values te reo Māori. A nation that’s engaged in the revitalisation of te reo Māori. And a nation that speaks te reo Māori. Our challenge is to win the hearts and minds of Aotearoa for te reo Māori.”

Ngahiwi has led te reo Māori initiatives over the past 35-years that have helped shape Aotearoa. A te reo champion, musician, iwi radio pioneer and educationalist, under his leadership the commission launched the popular Kia kaha te reo Māori brand and created the first Māori Language Parades. After helping launch the iconic tino rangatiratanga band Aotearoa while he was at university, Ngahiwi headed home to Te Araroa to help set up Radio Ngāti Porou and went on to head the Māori Media Network. He also served as Deputy Director Māori at Ako Aotearoa for several years. A licensed translator since the 1990s, Ngahiwi served many years as a member of the NZ Music Commission. Ngahiwi is a native speaker of te reo Māori and has led Te Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori since 2015.

Pirimia leads Te Toko Reo, the communications and promotional ohu (business unit) of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori. Trained as a broadcast journalist, her early career included documentary research, TV presenting and script writing. Pirimia then joined the public service as a Māori communications professional spanning health, Māori development, the arts and education. 

Ngapera has worked primarily in the public service seeking better outcomes for iwi, hapū and whānau Māori at both policy and operational levels. More recently she worked on developing strategies that improve the Māori Crown Relationship. She leads Te Amo which is comprised of two work streams:

• Te Pūtahi Rangahau|Research and Evaluation
• Te Taituarā | Maihi Karauna Secretariat

Matu has worked with communities, iwi and Māori on diverse kaupapa including Treaty Settlements, hapū coastal management plans and health information systems. He leads the Language Planning Support Team (Te Hiringa) supporting the efforts and aspirations of organisations across New Zealand to normalise te reo Māori.

Te Tumatakuru has worked for 30 years in Māori language revitalisation initiatives. In 1998 he obtained his translator's licence, and began working as a translator and interpreter in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. He supports the Aotearoa translation sector. He has served on the council of the New Zealand Interpreter's and Translator's Society. He has also served on the Te Kāhui Whakamāori council, and other committees for the International Federation of Translators. Since 2022 he began as a director for Te Puna Ratonga Māori at Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori. Activities ran by Te Puna include running Toi Reo Māori, translation services at Te Taura Whiri, maintaining and advocating the orthographic conventions, and developing new lexicon, including provide Māori language advice for those seeking it.