As part of our ongoing commitment to better understand the aspirations of our hapori Māori, we have been on a journey of māramatanga (understanding). We wanted a platform to share what we've learnt, so we created a podcast series with Tahu FM.

In episode three of our podcast series, Jas from Tahu FM sits down with Rātā Foundation's Māori Engagement Advisor Steve Merito, Communications Manager Tarns Bethell & Tanith Petersen, Operations Manager of He Waka Tapu to talk engagement, communications, and capacity building.

He Waka Tapu is a Kaupapa Māori organisation in Christchurch supporting whānau to take steps towards attaining positive health and wellness outcomes and empowering and strengthening communities. Rātā Foundation have a longstanding relationship with HWT through both its community investment programme and their mutual mahi to communicate He Waka Tapu’s story to the wider community.

This podcast tells the story of the close working relationship Rātā Foundation and He Waka Tapu forged to bring capacity to HWT’s communications strategy. Rātā Foundation alongside He Waka Tapu to help them build a communications strategy - analyzing research was undertaken into their organisation and their audiences' communications needs and then undertaking a thorough review of existing communications and recommending areas of improvement and new ideas. With an active audience, they needed to build capacity within their organisation to bring their stories to the forefront. A crucial aspect of their business is often overlooked, He Waka Tapu now have an active communications strategy in place.

He Waka Tapu received a capacity grant from Rātā Foundation to assist this mahi.