Our Board of Trustees

On this page you can find out all about the Board of Trustees of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rārua.

Our Board of Trustees contain professionals of whakapapa, history, finance, banking, governance, business, cultural and social realms. Each one of our board members have whakapapa to Ngāti Rārua and are chosen by the registered members of Ngāti Rārua.

Olivia Hall | Anaru Luke | Aneika Young | Miriana Stephens | Eruera Keepa | Hoani Macdonald | Kura Stafford | Tana Luke

Olivia Hall (Chairperson)

Olivia holds several governance roles including Chair of Tasman Bays Heritage Trust (Nelson Provincial Museum), Board Member Nelson Marlborough District Health Board and Chair of the Mātauranga Iwi Leaders Group.

She has a Bachelor of Arts in Māori, a Master of Business Administration, a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning and an Advanced Certificate in Māori Ambassador and Leadership.

Olivia is an Executive Director at Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology and is from the hapū of Ngāti Paretona, Ngāti Pareteata, Te Arawaere and Tūrangapeke. Olivia and her husband Dion live in Whakatū Nelson and have four sons as well as a cherished mokopuna.

Andrew (Anaru) Luke

Andrew is passionate about the environment and incorporating Māori values and knowledge into the management of natural resources. For the past 18 years Andrew worked in central government departments from Ministry of Fisheries, Ministry for the Environment and Department of Conservation as a coordinator, policy analysis, manager and director. Born and bred in Wairau and after spending 15 years in Wellington Andrew is now the Executive Director Māori at Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology based in the Nelson Campus.

With his partner of 20 years, Kelly and married for three years, have two boys and in 2018 relocated to Nelson to live.

Aneika Young

Aneika has a wealth of historical, iwi and environmental mātauranga in Te Tauihu and has been working as a kaitiaki for te taiao for most of her career. She has worked with community groups, conservation groups, council, national government, CRI’s and researchers and others and has strong relationship management and advocacy experience. Aneika holds a range of governance roles and ministerial appointments, Board member for Te Āwhina Marae, Director for Project Janszoon, Co-chair of the Nelson Marlborough Conservation Board, and board member for the Kaiteretere Recreation Board.

Miriana Stephens

Miriana was born and raised in Motueka and holds qualifications in New Zealand History and Law. She was awarded the 2016 Aotearoa NZ Māori Woman Business Leader award in recognition of outstanding success and excellence in business.

Miriana is also a director for Wakatū Incorporation and is currently leading AuOra™ which is an associated business of Wakatū that invests in a portfolio of nutrition and ingredient applications for the Japan market. Miriana is also a member of Nuku ki te Puku™ (a national Māori Food and Beverage cluster), the national Food and Fibres Leadership Group, NZTE Dubai Expo 2020, the Riddet Research Institute, Chair of Leaft Foods research programme and she is an alumni of Te Hono (NZ agribusiness leaders).

She also enjoys fishing and reconnecting to traditional cultural customary practices with her family and kin.

Eruera Keepa

Eruera is based in Wellington with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as their Māori Engagement Lead. With a career spanning more than ten years across government and corporate sectors, Eruera has held influential roles to enable and support the advancement of Māori, iwi, and hapū aspirations. Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eruera forged a successful consultancy path supporting several organisations and government agencies to represent Mātauranga Māori and engage effectively with Māori.

As an advocate for the development of Mātauranga Māori, Eruera believes that Māori knowledge, systems, and tikanga can contribute to the well-being of New Zealanders and the advancement of the communities that most need support.

As a board member, Eruera is dedicated to leveraging his expertise to guide strategic decisions that align with the organisation's values and long-term sustainability goals. His unwavering commitment to cultural advancement and his ability to inspire positive action make him an influential voice in shaping the board's direction.

Eruera hails from Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Maniapoto, and Ngāti Whakaue.

Hoani Macdonald

Hoani has been involved in High Performance sports for the past 25 years and knows what it means to be a valued member of a “Team”. He owns and manages his own business taking on the day to day running of it, budgets, management, employee conflicts etc. Hoani has a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and Management from Otago University.

Hoani is passionate about change and growth for the betterment of our iwi regardless of where whānau live and wants to help make our iwi a sustainable resource for future generations. Hoani looks for ways to make the waka go faster through teamwork and collaboration and as a passionate family man aims to activate our iwi through healthy habits in mind, body, and soul.

Kura Stafford

Kura has a Resource Management background with formal qualifications in Environmental Planning and has experience working for Māori and Iwi organisations to implement Treaty Settlement outcomes in natural resource management with Local Government and Crown agencies. Kura is currently employed as the He Pou Taiao for Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust.

It is important to ensure Te Ao Māori and Mātauranga Māori inform Council and Crown decision making to ensure Ngāti Rārua environmental outcomes to protect, enhance and restore the health and wellbeing of te taiao are upheld.

Tana Luke

Tana is a proud Māori man of Ngāti Rārua, Ngāi Tahu and Te Rarawa descent, with a passion to contribute to the development of Māori and New Zealand society as a whole. Te Reo Māori, kaupapa Māori, the environment, sports, whānau and his iwi are all motivating factors in his life.

Tana has a strong knowledge of tikanga and is a fluent Te Reo Māori speaker. He was raised in kōhanga reo, kura kaupapa and whare wānanga and is now the proud father to two daughters, Aewa and Amo.