Innov8HQ

❤️ What a week around the motu! 🌟

Last Thursday, we had an inspiring day in Wellington at the Whāraurau National Youth Symposium delivering the Mana Rangatahi Accelerator, surrounded by today’s young leaders who are making waves in their communities. Their passion and drive give me so much hope for the future, and it was incredible to see the impact of our kaupapa coming to life through their voices and leadership.

From there, we celebrated a monumental moment as the first of the 2024 Konaki graduates presented a truly breathtaking business plan. Their vision? A joint venture that beautifully weaves culture into the foundation of enterprise – showcasing the power of storytelling and indigenous values in shaping the next generation of sustainable business and entrepreneurship.

I couldn’t be prouder of these rangatahi. It’s moments like these that remind us why we do what we do. 🌿💼✨

Here’s to more cultural narratives driving innovation and a future where Māori and indigenous knowledge shape our industries and communities with Deb Gallon Ben Sommerville Claire Porima Katharina Ruckstuhl Lachlan Williams Harry Russ Megan Latu Carlos Hardie Liam Uzumaki

So excited to see this, a game changer ❤️😉🎉💯

Launching DyslexicU: the world’s first ‘University of Dyslexic Thinking’ Today, forces with charity Made By Dyslexia to launch the free online University of Dyslexic Thinking, hosted by Open University and av...

Forever learning & mastering te reo 🎉😉❤️ xx

Happy te wiki o te reo Māori!! Here’s to a fun & adventurous week of practising # # #

Our hearts are full after an awesome session with our latest Queenstown Mana Rangatahi tribe, loved the vibes and creativity!! Special shout out to Trust for hosting us and to the APM and whānau - what a collab!! ❤️👌🏾🙌🎉 looking forward to our next sesh 👋😉

🌟 Celebrating Mana Rangatahi Alumni Success 🌟

We couldn’t be prouder of Chaleece Kenealy, one of our incredible Mana Rangatahi alumni, who was invited to speak at the Whāraurau Sector Leaders Conference in Wellington on Friday. Chaleece embodied the essence of “feeling her fear and doing it anyway” as she delivered her first ever public keynote to a captivated audience of sector specialists. Her courage and authenticity truly shone through, leaving a lasting impact on everyone present.

The conference featured enlightening conversations and insights with other sector leaders from around the motu, including another Ōtepoti treasure Deb Fraser - Komene. One of the highlights was hearing from the remarkable Professor Ashley Bloomfield, whose leadership speech reminded us all of the truly humbling and inspiring person he is.

It’s moments like these that underscore the importance of the Mana Rangatahi programme in fostering young leaders who are ready to make a difference.

Congratulations, Chaleece, on this incredible achievement! Your journey is a testament to the power of resilience and the impact of courageous leadership.

Proud of these incredible rangatahi, youth and looking forward to welcoming the next 2 from Central Otago in the months ahead 🎉❤️😉

Scholarships fostering leadership His parents are Russian and he was born in Canada but Tim Chevtchenko proudly describes himself as "Kiwi-made". Mr Chevtchenko, who grew up in New...

🌟Congratulations to Ebony Miles-Wilson, Izzy Miscesco, and Tim Chevtchenko! 🌟

We are thrilled to announce that these inspiring individuals are the first recipients of our prestigious Manawanui Scholarships. In alignment with Matariki aspirations for the future, we are delighted to grant Ebony, Izzy, and Tim the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

Their achievement in securing these scholarships is a testament to their courage, hard work, dedication and commitment to their aspirations. Each recipient showcased their personal kete for life to a captivated and emotionally charged audience members and judges.

We also want to acknowledge the amazing contribution of their Mana Rangatahi peers who presented alongside them and the tuakana, our alumni, who supported this journey. Your efforts, encouragement and support have been invaluable.

A heartfelt thank you to our judges, Grace Esterman from Startup Dunedin for hosting us, and John Guthrie from Transition to Work Trust, who were challenged with the tough decision to pick the recipients.

As a collaborative effort between INNOV8HQ and Transition to Work Trust, who co-funded this initiative, we are delighted to witness hopes and dreams being realised. We look forward to the next steps in their journeys and to seeing the incredible futures they will build, and to bring more opportunities to life.

On behalf of the Renata / Heads family, a message from our mother (Carol) in honour of our late father Charles Manawanui Renata, whom the scholarships are named after.

"Congratulations to each and every one of you. Best wishes for exciting futures to come. Never give up, Never stop trying, and Never stop learning. Always Believe in Yourselves."

Mānawatia a Matariki! ✨🌠

🌟 Mānawatia a Matariki! 🌟

Embraced by the spirit of Matariki, a time to reflect, reconnect, and rejuvenate. As we gather to celebrate the Māori New Year, we honour the rich traditions and wisdom of our tūpuna, ancestors, looking to the stars to guide our future.

Matariki is a time to acknowledge our achievements, set new goals, and foster stronger connections within our community. It’s a time for learning, growth, and embracing the values of whanaungatanga (relationships), manaakitanga (hospitality), and kaitiakitanga (guardianship).

Let’s build a future grounded in the wisdom of our past, guided by the stars, and enriched by our collective efforts.

Ngā mihi o Matariki, te tau hou Māori!

Have an awesome weekend everyone xx ❤️



✨🌌🌿🌟

6 years in the making, the first official Konaki programme insights report is now live (available as a flipbook and downloadable PDF).

This comprehensive document is the result of a social experiment, (aka.. my happy accident) that we launched alongside Te Kura Pakihi, University of Otago's Business School to develop an industry led mentoring programme for Māori Business students, where they could be immersed in real-world enterprise projects determining how cultural identity can influence resilient leadership, enterprise, and economies.

This initiative has evolved into transformative pathway framework for education and enterprise, and is a beautiful example of how cultural identity enriches the mana of our enterprises and workforce. We couldn't have done this without the amazing support of our co-Creator, Dr. Katharina Ruckstuhl ruchstuhl who identified its significance for tertiary students and who has continued to champion its ambition and the future of this in education.

Ngā mihi ki a koutou (massive thanks to all) who have contributed to the evolution of this programme, including our 2023 Konaki alumni Charlotte Thompson for taking on the research and to our inspiring graduates, Konaki ambassadors Ben Sommerville and businesses who shared their stories and successes.

We look forward to what lies ahead :)

Poipoia te kākano kia puawai, Nurture the seed and it will grow :)

Konaki Konaki connects Māori business students from the University of Otago with startups to apply their skills in real-world projects, enhancing their education and accelerating business innovation. Learn how this partnership fosters entrepreneurship and bridges academia with industry.

Exciting Announcement: Manawanui Scholarship Launches

Kia ora e te iwi - greetings to all, today marks a special moment as we officially announce the Manawanui Scholarship, in memory our father, Charles Manawanui Renata.

Building on the success of our Mana Rangatahi programme, in partnership with INNOV8HQ and Transition to Work Trust, we’re dedicating $50,000 to assist five young leaders in the Otago region, with each receiving a $10,000 investment in their future pathways.

This scholarship is designed to propel our rangatahi forward to graduates of our 2024 Mana Rangatahi programme, offering them substantial leadership support to achieve their dreams.

Why Apply?

- Benefit from one of five $10,000 scholarships
- Gain the support needed to pursue your education and career goals, aspirations and accelerate your leadership opportunities.
- Become part of our diverse and global network of rangatahi - youth doing super cool stuff

Want to learn more, the link is included below. Help us spread this amazing opportunity—like, share, and tag someone who could benefit from this scholarship :)

Mauri ora (link in bio)

Exciting Announcement: Manawanui Scholarship Launches

Kia ora e te iwi - greetings to all, today marks a special moment as we officially announce the Manawanui Scholarship, in memory our father, Charles Manawanui Renata.

Building on the success of our Mana Rangatahi programme, in partnership with INNOV8HQ and Transition to Work Trust, we're dedicating $50,000 to assist five young leaders in the Otago region, with each receiving a $10,000 investment in their future pathways.

This scholarship is designed to propel our rangatahi forward to graduates of our 2024 Mana Rangatahi programme, offering them substantial leadership support to achieve their dreams.

Why Apply?

- Benefit from one of five $10,000 scholarships
- Gain the support needed to pursue your education and career goals, aspirations and accelerate your leadership opportunities.
- Become part of our diverse and global network of rangatahi - youth doing super cool stuff

Want to learn more, the link is included below. Help us spread this amazing opportunity—like, share, and tag someone who could benefit from this scholarship :)

Mauri ora.

Manawanui Scholarship Discover the Manawanui Scholarship, designed to empower and support ambitious students from around Aotearoa in their pursuit of leadership excellence. Join us in cultivating the next generation of community and business leaders through comprehensive development programs that emphasise perseverance,....

Kiwis influencing Indigenous movie making around the world. Super proud of big brother and Director of Innov8HQ Steven Renata for the amazing mahi being done with indigenous peoples & enabling the restoration and preservation through tech of native tongues and talent in the film industry. Our father would be proud ❤️💯 Ka mau te wehi 🎉💥

Māori ‘superpower’ brings movie magic to indigenous tongues Hone Heke descendent Steve Renata is using cutting-edge tech to help revitalise indigenous languages, and will soon launch the first Ngalia-language app.

Wishing you all a fantastic Easter weekend relaxing with whānau, friends and a lot-tle chocolate. Arohanui - the INNOV8HQ whānau xx ❤️❤️

March mahi magic 🎉 Awesome to be invited as a panelist for the Southern Regional Forum event! Great day sharing loads of insightful and inspiring stories and success stories from other education and training institutes & organisations right here in the beautiful south hosted by the fab whānau from Ako Aotearoa & ACE Aotearoa ❤️👏 Looking forward to the next one 🙌

Happy International Women's Day - a day of Innov8HQ reflecting on our whakapapa of some of the inspiring young wāhine (& there are so many more) we've had the pleasure of working alongside over the last 8 years 🙂

Wowee - what a ride!!!! Here's to many more & to all the incredible wāhine out there continuing to forge new pathways for our wāhine, and the awesome brothers, fathers, Uncles and Grandads who continue to support and encourage us, thank you!!! # # # 🥳😍

Ngā mihi o te Tou Hau, Happy New Year people and what a way to kick off 2024 - surrounded by 24 amazing rangatahi & students from St Olaf’s College, Minnesota.

What a year we have planned as we continue to expand our global reach for youth leadership and entrepreneurship & excited to be now partnering with the USA, Canada and Australia as we influence this new generation of young global citizens and leaders.

In the weeks ahead we will also be releasing some awesome news for our Mana Rangatahi Alumni network and graduates of 2024, including exclusive access to scholarship opportunities for 5 x deserving graduates from around the region to accelerate their chosen pathways in 2024 (keep an eye out here for more news).

Here’s to an inspiring year ahead for all!!!

Mauri Ora :)

On behalf of the INNOV8HQ whānau - ngā mihi ki a koutou (thanks to everyone) involved in making 2023 a year to remember. It’s been a biggie and we couldn’t do it without the ongoing support of our amazing team, whānau and our fabulous community partners - John Guthrie and the team at Transition to Work Trust.

We can’t wait to share what’s coming in 2024 (it’s going to be pretty choice!!!), but until then - may your festive season be gifting presence with your loved ones & enjoying lots of yummy kai # # #

Arohanui from - Heidi-ho-ho-ho, our forever faithful Jo (from across the Tas), John & our amazing Mana Rangatahi and Konaki crews # # # ❤️🤩🎉🥳

Waking up to great press to see one of our Konaki Tuakana & Alumni awesome news!! Ka mau te wehi Jamie 🥳🎉💯👌🏾

Alumna Jamie Wood first Otago graduate awarded Schwarzman Scholarship | University of Otago International Business and Chinese language alumna Jamie Wood (Kāi Tahu) has been awarded a prestigious Schwarzman Scholar fellowship to study a master’s programme in global affairs at Schwarzman College, which sits within Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.