For almost forty years, WaiTech, who have been delivering our Diploma in Whānau Ora, have been doing something quietly profound. It has built a workforce that actually knows how to walk with whānau and not just tick boxes beside them.It’s the kind of capability-building that doesn’t make front-page headlines, but absolutely shapes futures. And this year’s Whānau Ora Diploma graduation shows exactly why.
Since the early days in 1987, when WaiTech began, the vision was simple. To grow our people so they can nurture our communities. In 1992 it became a PTE, and the kaupapa hasn’t stopped evolving since. More than 600 kaimahi from across our Whānau Ora network have now graduated with the Diploma in Whānau Ora and 64 more joined the movement this year.
Those numbers represent something bigger: a pipeline of kaimahi who are culturally grounded, future-focused and skilled in the art of whānau-led solutions. A skill set that sits somewhere between social worker, strategist, advocate, counsellor, navigator and sometimes… stand-in aunty or uncle.
Whānau Ora’s success has never just been about services. Anyone can deliver a service, however not everyone can deliver transformation. Real change happens when kaimahi have the tools, frameworks and confidence to back whānau towards the futures they define.
Whānau Ora Chair Merepeka Raukawa-Tait knows this better than most, and her kōrero hit right at the heart of that truth at this year's Diploma in Whānau Ora graduation.
“As we celebrate this milestone, we reaffirm our commitment to capacity-building at scale. Not just for today, but for generations to come,” she said. “This graduation is more than an individual achievement, it is a collective investment in the future of Whānau Ora, the resilience of our communities and the leadership of our kaimahi.”
And she didn’t forget the unsung heroes: the whānau who make the 6pm study nights and quiet weekends even possible.
“Our whānau have been the ones who come in, put the kids to bed and make sure the weekends are quiet so you can do your studies… I want to thank them as well because they are the ones that allow us the time to do what we have to do to be successful.”
But the diploma isn’t just something to frame for the office wall. It comes with a challenge, a call to action..
“So what do you do now with your diploma? When you stand up, you show up and speak up… Now is the time more than ever for us all to understand that we are living in changing times. I encourage you all to use your voice,” Merepeka encouraged.
Whānau Ora is a movement powered by ordinary people choosing to be extraordinary in the everyday. The cohort graduating this year isn’t a group of students, they’re the future workforce of an Aotearoa where whānau define their own success, where support doesn’t come top-down and where services bend to fit people, not the other way around.
When Merepeka looked at the graduates, she said she saw, “so much diversity… This is great for your organisations and our future. You are the future.”
The thing is, she’s right. These kaimahi are stepping into a world that needs their leadership, their cultural intelligence and their commitment to whānau-led transformation more than ever. The Diploma in Whānau Ora isn’t just creating workers. It’s cultivating disruptors, bridge-builders and the next generation of Māori leadership.
