About Us
Seeded from a shared passion for Whenua Māori
Te Hono was born from the shared passion of Blair, Paul, and Sera, who previously worked together on Whenua Māori development initiatives at Te Tumu Paeroa. This journey began with "Project Hono", which aimed to understand the intricacies of whenua Māori development. Through this project, essential components such as the necessary steps and core values for achieving successful outcomes became clear.
This experience was transformative, equipping us with invaluable insights. It is our firm belief that we possess the knowledge and expertise to assist other trusts in their quest to explore the untapped potential of their whenua. Hence, Te Hono was conceived.
We are dedicated to sharing our expertise, enabling trusts to embark on their unique journeys of discovery and unlocking the full potential of their whenua. Together, we can pave the way for successful outcomes and sustainable growth.
Welcome to Te Hono.
Blair
Blair Waipara, of Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Ruapani, and Ngāti Kahungunu descent, returned to Aotearoa after 13 years establishing businesses in Japan. Specialising in client engagement, strategy, finance, and product development, he boasts a rich track record that spans the nation. Over the past 11 years Blair has been actively engaged in Māori communities, leading programmes for whenua Māori development. Notably, his leadership shaped industry-first engagement processes, sparking one of the largest Māori land capital development programmes in the Kiwifruit industry. Blair also has a strong background in GIS data visualisation, product design, and leading award-winning projects like tupu.co.nz, winner of the Esri SAG Global Award.
Sera
Sera Price has a background in town planning and has spent the last 15 years working on land development and investment projects (primarily customary & Māori Land), bridging commercial objectives with social and cultural values and goals.
Sera’s journey started in a volunteer capacity with the Autonomous Bougainville Government, in Papua New Guinea, where she worked with her colleagues to kickstart the creation of a customary land policy. It was an amazing experience that set a sound foundation for being comfortable working in complexity, resourceful, and outcomes focused. Sera has gone on to focus on whenua Māori development. Working in teams, alongside experts, trustees and owners, Sera has learnt a lot about Whenua Māori, the challenges, the intricacies, and the opportunities. Her skill set has grown into the Project Management space which helps us scope, set up, and run projects to achieve successful results for everyone involved.
Paul
Paul O'Sullivan has worked across many industries, including electronics, telecommunications, banking, insurance, travel, land development, horticulture, housing, Māori engagement, and treaty settlements. This wide ranging exposure to people, cultures, processes and systems over the years – combined with many experiences of projects that have (and haven’t) worked - has shaped the way Paul thinks and works ttoday, i.e. an enjoyment of 'blue-sky thinking', quickly followed by pragmatic focus on delivery. Paul's passion for helping create businesses on Whenua Māori started at Te Tumu Paeroa, where the unique challenges faced by Māori land owners in developing their whenua really struck a chord.
Paul, along with Blair and Sera, also helped design the Poutama Process – a carefully paced engagement methodology that involves owners in the creation of their business case, resulting in the de-risking of investments on whenua Māori, Māori, amongst other benefits. Paul is one of the three founding Directors of Te Hono, with his focus primarily being financial management, contract management, and strategy development.
Ready to make it happen?
Let's chat!
We are dedicated to enabling trusts to embark on their unique journeys of discovery and unlocking the full potential of their whenua. Together, we can pave the way for successful outcomes and sustainable growth.
Get in touch:
027 598 5182
blair@tehono.nz