Honouring Our Ancestors

Alison Green (Ngati Awa, Ngati Ranginui) is a mother, a grandmother, and a professor in the School of Indigenous Graduate Studies, Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi. She holds a PhD in Maori and Pacific Development. In 2019, Alison was awarded the inaugural Misiweskamik Indigenous Post-Doctoral Fellowship to the University of Saskatchewan, where she taught at the Department of Indigenous Studies. She is also the chief executive of a Kaupapa Maori organisation that delivers sexual and reproductive health support, policy, advisory services and research.

Leonie Pihama (Te Atiawa, Nga Mahanga a Tairi, Waikato) is a mother of six and grandmother of six mokopuna. She is a professor of Maori and Indigenous research, director of research at Tu Tama Wahine o Taranaki, and director of Maori and Indigenous analysis. She has held roles as professor of Maori research at Nga Wai a Te Tui Research Institute, and director at Te Kotahi Research Institute (Waikato) and the Indigenous Research Institute for Maori and Indigenous Education (University of Auckland). She was a recipient of the Hohua Tutengaehe Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship and the inaugural Nga Pae o te Maramatanga Senior Maori Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Washington. In 2015, Leonie was awarded the Te Tohu Pae Tawhiti Award and the Te Tohu Rapuora Award. She has served on the boards of the Maori Health Committee for the Health Research Council, Maori Television, Te Mangai Paho and Nga Pae o te Maramatanga.