About the Awards

Vision: Whakatō te kākano, marotiritiri ai te māra, ka māea ngā hua

The Awards created, promoted, and celebrated the positives of excellence in Māori business — by Māori whose impact extended across communities and the world.

Purpose: To celebrate Māori business

Tertiary institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand have a responsibility to honour our successful Māori business leaders, because they serve as powerful role models for the young Māori population. The Awards gave that purpose a home.

Manaakitanga Māori means to honour one’s guests with hospitality. As a premier event recognising and celebrating Māori business success in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Ngā Tohu Kaiārahi Pakihi Māori o Aotearoa | Aotearoa Māori Business Leaders Awards:

• Honoured outstanding individual, group and organisational Māori success in business, in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world.
• Profiled and promoted excellence and success of Māori enterprise and business.
• Inspired rangatahi and University of Auckland Business School students by providing Māori role models who are successful in the business world.

The Ngā Tohu Kairārahi Pakihi Māori o Aotearoa | Aotearoa Māori Business Leaders Awards were established in 2003 by the late Dr Mānuka Henare, to acknowledge the academic success of Māori studying business, and to honour and celebrate the success and achievements of Māori business leaders. Over time the focus shifted from acknowledging academic success to celebrating successful Māori business leaders. Following Dr Henare’s passing in 2021, the Awards were hosted again in 2022 and 2024 in tribute to his legacy.

The time has now come to evolve this platform — preserving its core legacy and mana while responding to contemporary appetite and opportunity. More information on this evolution will be shared in due course.

The following award categories were presented across the life of the Awards:

Dame Mira Szászy Alumni award

A Māori graduate of the University of Auckland Business School who has achieved significant success in their career in business to date.

Mānuka Henare award

An organisation that upholds Māori values that is demonstrably helping to facilitate economic success across communities.

Outstanding Māori Business Leader award

A Māori person who has demonstrated outstanding leadership characteristics in the business world and whose influence extends beyond the confines of their role.

Māori Governance Leader award

A Māori person who has an exceptional record in leadership and governance in the business world and through that has made a substantial contribution to Māori enterprise.

Entrepreneurial Māori Business Leader award

A Māori person who is entrepreneurial and innovative and is building a business that upholds Māori values.

Kaitiaki Business Leader award

An organisation that upholds Māori values that promotes and achieves environmentally sustainable outcomes.

Young Māori Business Leader award

A young Māori person who has achieved significant success in their career to date, and inspires others to achieve success as a new generation of leaders.

Māori Woman Business Leader award

A Māori woman who has achieved significant success in her career to date.

Dame Mira Szászy Lifetime award

The award recognises a person who has an exceptional long-standing record in governance.

He Rātā Whakaruruhau | Lifetime Achievement award

An individual who has made a substantial and significant contribution to Māori enterprise over a long period of time.

Te Tohu Taumata Rau award

An iwi, hapū, or marae-based business that has a strong cultural ethos portrayed on the global arena.

Te Tohu Whakanuia te Rangatira a Mānuka Henare award

An organisation that upholds Māori values that provides education, service and leadership that has positive local and global impacts for Māori and indigenous communities.

Outstanding Māori Business Leadership award

A kaupapa Māori business that has achieved significant success that demonstrates transformation in their industry, sector or community and leadership that has positive local and global impacts for Māori and indigenous communities.

About Dame Mira Szászy:

The late Dame Mira Szászy was one of the most outstanding Māori women leaders of the twentieth century. She was the first Māori woman to graduate with a degree from the University of Auckland. She was also president of the Māori Women's Welfare League and was made a Dame in 1990. Her influence extended into many areas of society and community. Dame Mira made significant contributions in education, broadcasting, social welfare, and small business development. She received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Victoria University of Wellington in 1993 in recognition of her contribution to the nation, and she was very active in women's rights and Māori issues.

About Dr Mānuka Henare:

The late Dr Mānuka Henare is the founder of the Ngā Tohu Kairārahi Pakihi Māori o Aotearoa | Aotearoa Māori Business Leaders Awards and was an esteemed Māori academic. In 1996, he became the first lecturer in Māori business development to be appointed to the University of Auckland Business School. Dr Henare became the main teaching contributor to the Postgraduate Diploma in Business (Māori Development), known as the Te Tohu Huanga Māori Programme where he saw the opportunity to foster teaching and research on the history of the Māori economy. He developed the Dame Mira Szászy Research Centre and was awarded a national teaching excellence award (Award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching — Kaupapa Māori category) in 2018.