– Senior Strategic Projects Consultant
Kiriwaitingi is a Māori business leader who is passionate about the Māori economy and is a strong advocate for values-based leadership and business models.
Kiriwaitingi practised as a litigation and commercial lawyer prior to transiting into the commercial Māori sphere. She has held senior roles in commercial post-settlement entities and has experience working with local and central government on co-governance and co-management arrangements. Kiriwaitingi has spent the past decade as the chief executive of a successful Māori owned commercial company managing investments and assets in the primary sector, leading strategy and transformational change, negotiating commercial transactions, and heading environmental restoration projects.
Kiriwaitingi has over a decade of governance experience, with her first corporate appointment as a Future Director on Auckland International Airport. She currently holds various directorships on commercial Māori boards, not-for-profit (Bay of Plenty Rugby Union), and is also the Deputy Chair of Māori Kiwifruit Growers Association and is on the Zespri Sustainability Advisory Board.
Kiriwaitingi also has a BA (Hons) majoring in Te Reo Māori, is a fluent speaker of Te Reo and is knowledgeable of Tikanga Māori. She is a kapa haka practitioner having travelled the world as a performer and attended 9 Te Matatini Festivals with her first stand in 1996.
Kiriwaitingi’s tribal affiliations are Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Toa Rangatira