What is Te Aka Pakihi?
Te Aka Pakihi is a kaupapa Māori business mentoring platform developed by Te Matarau a Māui to support and strengthen Māori enterprise. The programme connects Māori entrepreneurs (teina) with experienced Māori business leaders (tuakana) in a safe, culturally grounded environment built on the principle of reciprocal learning.
Whether you are just starting out or looking to grow, Te Aka Pakihi offers a high-trust, high-impact mentoring experience tailored to the needs of Māori in business.
How it works
It's really easy to get started on your mentorship journey with us
Register as a Teina or Tuakana
Entrepreneurs and mentors register through a simple online process to share their goals, background, and availability.
Get Matched
Our team and regional partners help match teina with tuakana based on sector, interests,
and aspirations.
Start the Journey
Each mentoring pair starts with a whakawhanaungatanga session, either kanohi ki te
kanohi or virtual, to set the kaupapa, expectations, and rhythm of the relationship.
Mentor Your Way
Engagement can be casual or structured: a coffee kōrero, monthly check-ins, business
planning, or strategy sessions. It's flexible, mana-enhancing, and shaped by you.
"We are a kaupapa Māori business who appreciated talking with someone who understood what it is to be a Māori business and develop a plan for the business that was inclusive of our kaupapa."
Our Purpose
Grow Māori capability through intergenerational learning and business mentorship:
- Build resilience and connection within the Māori business whānau
- Empower Māori business leadership that is self-determined, culturally anchored, and community-connected
- Strengthen regional Māori economies through collective support and whanaungatanga
Our Kaupapa
The programme is guided by kaupapa tuku iho—principles that reflect our cultural values and aspirations, including:
- Manaakitanga – generous, reciprocal support
- Whanaungatanga – trusted, enduring relationships
- Rangatiratanga – self-determined leadership
- Pūkengatanga – sharing expertise and insight
- Te Reo Māori – normalising and celebrating te reo in business
- Kaitiakitanga – nurturing Māori enterprise for future generations
Why Mentoring Matters
For many Māori business owners, mentoring is more than business advice—it’s a form of rongoā (healing), offering clarity, confidence, and affirmation through challenge and change.
The tuakana–teina relationship creates space for learning, creativity, and support—enabling Māori in business to thrive, not just survive.
FAQs
We hope our frequently asked questions below answer any patai you have - if not, feel free to contact us directly.
Mentorees are sometimes small business owners, sometimes in start-up phases, or are in business already and want some mentoring.
In our programme the role of the teina (mentoree) is to show aroha / reciprocity and manaakitanga to the tuakana (your mentor). How you do this is up to you and your mentor to establish. One way of showing manaakitanga could be that you could offer to pay for coffee or lunch when you meet with your mentor.
Our mentors act as a sounding board, challenge assumptions and may be able to give referrals to agencies and support services, and to resources. They have had lived experience and understand the highs, lows and everything in between of a business journey. Their interest, knowledge, and experience to support someone who owns a business or is considering starting a business makes them invaluable.
Our mentors are diverse and come from a range of industries. They know what is like to make a business prosper in Aotearoa, and have at times struggled in business, so ‘know the ropes’, so to speak. Many of our mentors have and continue to have mentors themselves, helping them avoid pitfalls and gaining invaluable knowledge to help progress them to achieve their goals.
In the initial month, we would expect you to meet kanohi to kanohi for ‘hononga building’ and whakawhanaungatanga with your mentor. This initial meeting is a ‘chemistry check in’ and will help you ground your relationship and establish expectations going forward.
Following the initial hui, the frequency of when you meet is up to you and your mentor. For some it may only be a few hours every couple of months that is required, for others it may mean a coffee catch up every month. You will only ever be assigned to a mentor with your permission. If you see someone on our mentor profile page that you would like to be matched with, let us know and we can see if they are available.
Our mentors will act as a sounding board, challenge some of your assumptions and may be able to give referrals to agencies and support services, and to resources. However, it is not a consultancy role where mentors develop business plans etc with you. If that kind of arrangement is pursued, it will be outside of the mentor programme and cost and contracting arrangements will be strictly between you both independent of Te Matarau.
Te Aka Kumara (Kumara Vine)
Mentoring is a mutual relationship. Although the mentor may have information and skills that will assist you, the relationship is reciprocal, and each can benefit from the other over the course of the relationship. Further, you both can provide opportunities and connections to each other that strengthen the pakihi Māori kumara vine.
Hauora (Health)
Mentoring is also a hauora and rongoā initative. Some business owners describe mentoring as a strategic investment in their business health and safety plan. Other business owners describe mentoring as a rongoā (medicine) particularly when they feel stuck on an issue or need a confidante to speak to.
Opportunity Dividends
Having numerous mentors is normal in Te Ao Māori and Māori business. Different mentors can provide different skills and whakaaro at different stages of a business journey and having more than 1 mentor in business means more opportunity dividends.
Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. If for any reason you are not satisfied with the nature of the relationship a-wairua, a-mauri, or it just isn’t working, and you would prefer to no longer be matched – we have an easy and mana maintaining process set up and can find an alternative for both parties.
If the mentoring relationship is working out great and you would like to commend your mentor, we would happily profile your mentoring journey in the next available publication.
You can apply here.
Join Te Aka Pakihi
Whether you're a tuakana ready to give back, or a teina looking to grow—we welcome you to join Te Aka Pakihi. Together, we’ll grow the next generation of Māori entrepreneurs through connection, kaupapa, and collective strength.
Mā tāu rourou, mā tāku rourou, ka ora ai te iwi.
Still have questions?
Please feel free to contact us for a kōrero, we'd love to hear from you.
