Traci Houpapa won the Māori governance leader award at the Aotearoa Māori Business Leaders Awards in Auckland last night.
Houpapa, who grew up on a King Country sheep and beef farm, is Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Taranaki and Ngāti Tūwharetoa through her father and German Yugoslav through her mother.
Traci Houpapa
She won the award for her extensive leadership in business and governance and shaping the Māori business landscape.
The event was hosted by the University of Auckland Business School and celebrated the contributions of Māori entrepreneurs, leaders and organisations.
Houpapa worked as a tour guide on the Whanganui River, a rousey in a shearing gang, a lab technician, a social worker and on a project setting up kohanga reo centres around the North Island.
In recent times she has been a board member of the Chiefs rugby team and was appointed a Member of the New Order of Merit for services to business and Māori in 2012.
Five other awards were presented at the event.
Vanessa Hayes, founder of kaupapa Māori business Torere Macadamias on the East Coast, won the Entrepreneurial Māori Business Leader award.
Moana New Zealand won the Kaitiaki Business Leader award for their dedication to sustainable fisheries management. The seafood company is a 100 percent iwi-owned organisation with a deep sense of responsibility and respect for New Zealand’s fisheries.
Māori Women’s Development Inc, a charitable trust formed, managed and operated by Māori women, earned the Mānuka Henare award for its continued support of Māori women in business, offering loans and wrap-around support.
The Outstanding Māori Business Leader award went to Harry Burkhardt, co-founder and managing director of Replas Ltd, an innovative company transforming waste plastic into valuable products.
The Dame Mira Szászy Alumni Award went to Karleen Everitt, a University of Auckland Business School graduate who has had a stellar career and is currently leading Te Ao Māori Strategy at ANZ Bank.
