Above: Check out the highlight reel from the 2024 Tuākana Learning Communities Hākari!

There are three awards per programme, selected by the Tuākana leadership teams within Faculties and Te Tumu Herenga | Library and Learning Services. Eligible awardees are current students who are employed as Tuākana. 

• Leadership Award: recognising a Tuākana who has consistently shown leadership and initiative in their programme.
• Tuākana to Watch Award: recognising Tuākana in their first year who has shown potential to elevate the success of our tauira.
• Wairua Award: recognising someone who is the embodiment of the kaupapa and values of the Tuākana programme.

This award recognises students from the Tuākana Learning Community for services to Māori and Pacific communities and is selected by the offices of the Pro-Vice Chancellor Māori and the Pro-Vice Chancellor Pacific from nominations submitted by Faculty Tuākana teams.  

This award recognises someone who acknowledges, maintains, and develops the deep, abiding relationships between tangata whenua and our Pacific whanaunga as embodied in Tāne-nui-a-rangi, our wharenui, and known through our mātauranga and known through our mātauranga.  

The 2025 Hākari celebrated 30 awardees, among them Shelby
Symons from Tuākana Science and Kara Irwin from Moana Oceania Academic
Initiative. They were both honoured as recipients of the Waipapa Tātai Hono
Award 2025.

Shelby Symons

Shelby Symons (Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāti Raukawa) has shown
consistent leadership as a Tuākana Mentor and Graduate Teaching Assistant,
helping tauira succeed both academically and personally. Through their
involvement in student mental health research, Shelby has helped highlight
Māori and Pacific student experiences and ensured Tuākana Science continues to meet the real needs of its community. Their work has strengthened the
programme, supported closer connections between Māori and Pacific students, and helped create welcoming and supportive learning spaces. Shelby is appreciated for their integrity, generosity and commitment to others, and has made a meaningful impact on the Māori and Pacific student community at Waipapa Taumata Rau.

Kara Irwin

Kara Irwin is a strong academic performer who has contributed to the Moana
Oceania Academic Initiative as both a tutor and an Academic Skills Mentor. Kara is known for their integrity, leadership and commitment to Pacific values of love, service, respect and reciprocity. They consistently support students
whose voices are often overlooked, and many students credit Kara for helping
them achieve academic success through their steady guidance and encouragement. Kara is recognised as a humble, supportive tama’ita’i who brings a positive and uplifting presence to every space and is highly valued by the Faculty of Law for their dedication to Māori and Pacific student success.

2026 Awards

The 2026 Tuākana Learning Communities Hākari is expected to be held on Monday 6 October 2026.