Dani joins us from previous experience with Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland Council and with the Resource Management Unit for her hapū, Patuharakeke. Her new role is funded by the Milford Foundation to support the Puhinui Regeneration Project.
The multi-award winning Te Whakaoranga o Te Puhinui: Te Rautaki, Te Puhinui Regeneration Strategy was developed by the local iwi collective, Te Waiohua. This includes representation from Te Ākitai, Ngāti Tamaoho and Ngāti Te Ata, with Eke Panuku.
Dani brings with her a passion for collaboration and reciprocal relationships. For her, this is fundamental to being a co-nurturer with nature.
“I whakapapa to Te Tai Tokerau. Takahiwai is our whenua,” she says. Her whānau live in Waipū, a coastal town which weaves her Māori and Scottish heritage. That’s where Dani spent most of her childhood and teenage years.
“My Nan and Pop had the most beautiful home in Ruakākā we called Birdsong. I was very fortunate to grow up running around the gardens there. When I was a teenager they were forced to sell to developers. The development never really happened and the industrial park has been a wasteland since then. So, the landscape I grew up with was completely erased. I didn’t realise how formative that was. Such a loss. Where did all the manu go? I wanted to stop that sort of thing happening.”
Joining SBN’s Nature Regeneration Team is the latest expression of that drive. Dani’s role supports education, training and employment. It’s informed by indigenous place-based knowledge. It’s aligned with the specific needs and aspirations of the rangatahi in the catchment. She’ll be working closely with Te Pu-a-nga Maara (TPM). TPM is a rangatahi-led, taiao innovation collective. Its approach to regeneration draws on kōrero tuku iho, ancestral stories and indigenous pathways of knowing. It reconnects communities as part of the ecosystem.
This work hits a sweet spot for Dani.
“I’ve always loved working with young people,” she explains. “I’m grateful to have spent a few years supporting the Young Leaders Sustainability Programme. That was run by Auckland Council in partnership with Makaurau Marae. I loved seeing the rangatahi grow in confidence over the years and when things just land with them.”
She was also part of the rangatahi rōpū that contributed to the youth voice in Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland's Climate Plan. The value of ka noho teina te tangata, ka noho tuakana te taiao, has been a core philosophy which has stuck.
Her professional path has been heavily influenced and informed by Te Ao Māori. This includes mahi with her own hapū and with other kaupapa Māori organisations.
“That's completely shaped how I talk, walk and do things. Even how I email,” she says. “I thought there was a particular way to be ‘professional’. I got that completely shattered! It’s helped me connect with all kinds of people. It’s really connected me with my essential self. To see that a gentleness of spirit and healing way of being is the most valuable way of operating in the environmental space.”
It's also helped her reach out across various cultural and professional boundaries.
“It’s all about working collaboratively and embracing vulnerability. Finding common ground and mutual understanding. That’s shaped the way I work with what might sometimes be seen as contrasting or polarising opinions.
"The way we form relationships is from our most calm, connected sense of being. That for me is important to recognise. The way that we work needs to be mindful and intentional. The success of my role is determined by the trust, respect and hononga I have with others.
“You can literally see it changing the course of people’s lives and the landscapes they love. It’s more than training and employment. It’s also about the life skills they learn engaging with their local environment, and the life spark that comes with this. It recognises that whakapapa is something that you do, it’s active, immersive, connected.
"It means a lot that these young people can be paid to contribute to nourishing the oranga/wellbeing of the place where they stand. It enables them to keep the sense of place and belonging as it evolves. It maintains its essence, because the people who grew up there are actively involved in its transformation.”