Since our collective began in 2016, we have been very busy building up communities through engagement and empowerment. As we grew, our way of working alongside the community did as well, it’s always been important to us, to ensure that communities want us to work alongside them, and that what ever we create together is owned by that community and remains there. Our positioning has always been of a social enterprise – However legally we are a limited liability company, so in 2019, we worked hard to be approved with charitable status – providing us with a process that confirms our intentions to assist and support those in need.
Part of that formalising has meant that we have also shifted our roles in Rākau Tautoko. We are now proud to announce that we have a board of directors, with three key leaders stepping up to support the work that we achieve. The announcement of who these directors are, will be happening very soon, and Tara Moala, who is our founder and has been our lead practitioner since 2016, will be joining them.
With that shift, Tara will no longer be working on projects on the ground through Rākau Tautoko, although she will continue to support our team of practitioners with supervision and guidance in their work. It is with excitement that we also announce that Tara has accepted a position as a Service and System Designer with Tāmaki Regeneration Company.
Tara has had a long relationship with TRC and their predecessor Tāmaki Transformation Programme. In the early years, Tara worked alongside them, in the creation of Tāmaki Inclusive Engagement Strategy. This included advocating for local community empowerment and community engagement to be a key component of their success. In later years and more recently, Tara has been a part of teams through Rākau Tautoko, in learning about the needs our Tāmaki young whānau have in the early years and what support our most in need whānau could benefit from. She is now looking forward to her next steps, of joining TRC and focusing on growing new opportunities for the Tāmaki community.
Rest assured that all of these changes are only strengthening Rākau Tautoko and the projects that we work alongside, in our communities. We will continue to deliver the same quality of service and support that our communities deserve.
If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact Tara, who will be more than happy to talk further – tara@rakautautoko.com and 022 589 6604.
Rākau Tautoko 