Next Friday will be my sign-off for 2016 before we head away for a Kiwi Christmas summer break at our whānau (family) home at Orere Point. A special first Christmas at this whare (house) as we begin to invest in our collective future, pull our resources together and ensure our parents transition from full time mahi (work) to semi-retirement over the next few years. We are all excited to set-up our next whānau enterprise and adventure!
Today marks a special day as 1 year ago we delivered the first day of a 6 day programme to our inaugural cohort of RISE2025 coaches. In partnership with Jeanine Bailey and Teresa Tepania-Ashton we set about to make coaching more accessible in Māori, Pacifica and Asian communities. Traditionally the coaching industry has been mostly accessible to corporations and executives. Our intention was to turn tradition on it’s head and begin to disrupt the norm. My questions on returning to Aotearoa, NZ last year were – Why is coaching more accessible to corporates than to community? Where is my sisterhood of Māori, Pacifica and Asian coaches?
Very soon you will begin to see a steady stream of Māori women who have attained their ICF – International Coach Federation credentials. They all came with so much wisdom and experience and have committed to over 200+ hours to gaining this first level coaching credential. Today they are adding value to whānau and communities across Aotearoa. We are in awe of every single one of you, and as a roopu (group) you are a joy to work with.
Our collective belief in the transformation of coaching in community has created so much positive energy and outcomes in just one year it’s truly phenomenal. Under Teresa’s leadership as the CEO of MWDI – Māori Womens Development Inc. the Hinepreneur brand was born to serve Māori women in business and their whānau. As a last resort funder MWDI have the ability to match a dedicated trained Hinepreneur to Māori Women starting or running their own businesses. The uniqueness of this relationship is the ability of a Hinepreneur to provide a Life Coaching element to the technical support of running a business such as business planning, financial literacy and business acumen. Imagine the meaningful conversations being had about the vision of your business and how to overcome the personal and professional challenges of running a business! Shifting hearts and minds that create new action towards exciting outcomes is what coaching represents for me.
One of our collective highlights in November was to host the ICF CEO – Magdalena Mooks, Global Chair – Leda Turai Petrauskiene and Regional Partnership Director – Fiona Toy for a cultural exchange of Māori tikanga (protocol), culture and aroha (love). RISE2025 allows indigenous women to be certified and credentialed internationally through the ICF pathway. The openness and validation from the ICF Global team to spend a whole day with us in Wellington demonstrated for me that we have partnered with the right coaching institution.
As Jeanine and I continue to spread our wings, learn and grow we know that RISE2025 coaching and leadership programme for 100,000 indigenous women is meant to grow and travel with us. Our learnings have been many this year. We have both continued to trust in ourselves and the women we serve. We have taken on feedforward that others may have crumbled under. We have simply received that feedforward and asked ourselves “what was the gift in that?”. We have coached each other and connected with 100’s and touched 1,000’s this year. 2016 has been an amazing ride and we look forward to sharing exciting news about our programmes here and abroad in next week’s blog.
On a final note, I’m so grateful to the 15 Rise Ambassadors who took time out of their busy schedules to be interviewed as part of the RISE movement: Precious Clark, Ngapera Riley, Caren Rangi, Torin Ellis, Christina Leef, Teresa Tepania-Ashton, Sina Wendt-Moore, Annette Fale, Salma El-Wardany, Jess Weller, Yvonne Kahara Marshall, Anne Thorp, Leesah Murray, Parekawhia McLean, and Trina Tamati. With 10 interviews already lined up for next year we have more amazing men and women ready to openly share their stories about the value of women’s full participation in all areas of society and the value they bring to the world. WATCH all 15 RISE Ambassador interviews HERE.
Continue to SHARE your learnings and light with one person or thousands of people. The world needs to see YOU shine in order for others to walk with you on your journey. Connect with us at www.rise2025.com or email us at info@rise2025.com if you know someone who would value our vision please SHARE! #weRISEtogether #rise2025
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