Te Mātātahi Scholarship programme is an eight-week course for rangatahi aged between 18-25, designed to provide a comprehensive digital marketing programme, specifically for Māori, who want to build their skills in the industry.
“It's important that we support young people like this, especially in this age of social media,” says Minister Willie Jackson, who was at the graduation over the weekend.
“We need young people with a strong background, particularly in tikanga Māori, to be supported and to tell our Māori stories,” he added.
The programme is led by Whāriki - Māori Business Network and Meta, and is the first of its kind in Aotearoa. Whāriki communications and community director Beau Johns (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi) says the eight-week programme came out of a demand for Māori talent in the industry.
Te Mātātahi scholarship graduates take te ao Māori into the digital marketing space.
“So many corporates operate in our network and the thing they are screaming out for is Māori talent, and we wanted to provide that talent but in an authentic Māori way," he says.
One of the graduates, Jayda Hopping (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi), says it's important that Māori are involved in the advertising process that involves te reo or mātauranga Māori.
“It’s about ensuring that we are bringing rangatahi into these spaces and telling them in a way that we want to tell them and not how big corporates want us to tell it.”