Testimonials

Ko te āwhinatanga mai te mahi a Tīmoti, kua hanga a mātou māramatanga i te paparahi tuhinga me whakaārahi a mātou kaupapa o te ao Māori ki roto i a mātou kāhui a MOTAT.
I auaha ia mā mātou hui ki te ngāwari a mātou whakamāramatanga i te māoritanga tūturu o ngā tuhinga.
Kua honohono me herehere a mātou ngākau ki ngā paparahi tuhinga a Tiriti o Waitangi me te He Whakaputanga hoki mai ngā pūrakau me ngā kōrero maumaharatanga a Tīmoti.
Kei te waimarie mātou me tāngata katoa rānei i te rongo ki tōna kōrero matatau me ōna pūmanawa. Kei te hiahia a Aotearoa ōna taonga kōrero i te wā nei i hanga te ao Māori i te katoa o tātou whenua.

Bailey Henare Turia, People & Culture Coordinator – Kaupapa Māori

We approached Empowering Change to support the MOTAT Team here in Tāmaki Makaurau as we embark on our journey into te ao Māori and te Tiriti o Waitangi. The beautiful incorporation of tāonga, pūrākau and story-telling wrapped around the history of Aotearoa made for a heart-felt session where we could all let down our walls and any preconceived ideas, and just tune in to new ways of understanding this Kaupapa. Positive feedback from participants came through in waves, many expressing an eagerness to learn more about how they can become more active treaty partners, in their personal and professional lives.
We will definitely work with Tīmoti and the team at Empowering Change in the future, in as many capacities as they are willing to work with us in. I couldn’t recommend them more highly.

Emma de Hoog, People & Culture Coordinator

Bailey Henare Turia and Emma de Hoog
People & Culture Coordinator – Kaupapa Māori & People & Culture Coordinator Motat

From a Teacher’s Aide who attended:

“I just wanted to say “thanks” for including us in Timoti’s journey of discovery.
As one of the lost generations (of the reo and culture) and not having had the opportunity through previous learnings to be exposed to Te Tiriti O Waitangi I found today captivating, informative, humorous and inspirational 🥰 Now the real work starts in trying to take the next steps! Exciting though.

From a teacher who attended:

“Thanks so much for getting Timoti for the Professional Development today. He was awesome. Super valuable! A colleague has just left to collect shells and driftwood to repeat that activity with his class! ”

Nolian Andrew
Principal Wainui Beach School

It was a great and an invaluable experience to have Timoti Harris facilitate our Te Tiriti o Waitangi Teacher Only Day on the 3rd February 2021. Timoti was really interesting to listen to, engaging, and inspired lots of great thinking/reflection in a really balanced and considered way. A great speaker, Timoti is clearly very knowledgeable and can engage even the most reluctant participant. I highly recommend Timoti as a presenter to deliver on this topic; one that’s often controversial due to a lack of understanding. Tēnā rawa atu koe, many thanks, Timoti!

Paul Sadler
Principal Mangapapa School Tūranganui-a-Kiwa/Gisborne

“Timoti delivered a day long program which went beyond our expectations including the use of a massive array of taonga which he shared with us.
He hit the nail on the head with his approach and delivery of Te Tiriti o Waitangi; his narratives had everyone waiting for more and his use of a vast array of personal taonga was so humbling.
Timoti had the ability to enable us to dig deep and wide. He is an amazing kaikoorero and we will welcome him back to continue our journey with us”

Linda Nicholson
Lead Teacher In-Charge Culturally Responsive and Relational Pedagogy Programmes Putaaruru College.

“Our day of professional learning on Te Tiriti o Waitangi with Tīmoti was some of the best we’ve had.
Our whole staff came away fired up with new knowledge on the history of Aotearoa and ready to do better personally and professionally in living the principles and articles of Te Tiriti.
We are now really aware of ensuring that our kura and classrooms reflect the fact that we are in Aotearoa New Zealand.
I can now see and hear a concerted effort to normalise the use of te reo Māori and a desire to learn more.
Tīmoti’s content delivery was both entertaining and provocative. The use of the fabulous display of taonga was a beautiful accompaniment to Tīmoti’s kōrero.
Ngā mihi nui Tīmoti ki te kōrero me whakaaro o Te Tiriti o te Waitangi.”

Helen McGuigan
Principal Saint Mary's Catholic School Gisborne

“Being introduced to the work of Timoti has had a profound impact on myself as a leader and the colleagues whom I work with. Timoti has a special ability to connect with people and deliver powerful content. I rate Timoti and the quality of his work so highly that I have attended multiple sessions he has facilitated. He is organised, warm and incredibly knowledgeable. He knows how to read a crowd and modify presentations which are fit for purposes depending on the audience. Timoti has respectfully engaged us around important kaupapa and we now have a staff committed to doing things differently… and in the spirit of participation, protection and partnership!”

Glen Udall
Principal Gisborne Intermediate

“I now have a desire to learn Te Reo. Healing process – understanding more of my history. Start of self-love of who I am. Sense of belonging. Created in a world that hated me, to a better understanding of who I am as Maori and appreciating the past, so that I can live for the future.”

Kaiako Māori

Thank you for your presentation on Te Tiriti O Waitangi, it was
• inspirational
• hands on activities
• meaningful connections with the stories being told
• engaging for the audience

Our staff found the presentation both motivational and inspirational. How Timoti presents his workshops had staff engaged and in awe.

From this workshop it created a lot of questions from our teachers to help them with their planning for the year ahead; even the reluctant teacher was able to ask the gnarly questions for them to have a better understanding for themselves.

It has been pleasing to notice the shift of our teachers from what I have seen over the years teaching alongside them, for I believe that they did not understand Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the role it has in our education system, and one of the kōrero of knowing the stories about our marae in our rohe resonated for me so much so that this year’s teacher only day, before school started, was a visit to two of our local marae (both from where I am from) where staff got to hear all about these stories and also about Te Pou o Motai. There was so much enthusiasm and kōrero from our teachers and I can only attribute that to the workshop and understanding from Timoti’s presentations.”

Ko te haerenga o te mano maero..ka timata i tetahi taahiraa kotahi
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Marina Hireme
Assistant Principal SENCO Putāruru College

“As an ACT for our local Kāhui Ako, it has been my pleasure to engage the services of Timoti. When looking at how we were to engage kaiako with developing culturally responsive pedagogies, we decided to start building a solid foundation around Te Tiriti o Waitangi, so all kaiako, tumuaki and kaiawhina had a better understanding of the effects of colonisation and our combined responsibilities of being active treaty partner. Every person attending these well scaffolded workshops have walked away with excitement, positivity and a commitment to keep evolving their practices both for themselves and their kura. All kura involved, mainstream and Kura Kaupapa Māori, expressed the value and knowledge that they gained from these workshops. Many kura have expressed an eagerness to continue with these workshops, in order to embed Te Tiriti in their kura and many more are waiting for the next time Timoti will be in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, so they too can become part of this journey building and enacting honest and active Tiriti partnerships.”

Alleyne Chater
Cross Community of Learning Cultural and Relational Pedagogy Tūranganui-a-Kiwa/Gisborne

“Working with Empowering Change has been the catalyst for change we have been searching for as an organisation. Timoti Harris is a skilled facilitator who brings people to an everyday understanding of the relevance and value of the Treaty of Waitangi and a bi-cultural approach in their everyday working life.

Our people positively rave not only about what they have learned, but about how that learning has changed both their thinking and their doing, through a safe and graceful process of discovery”.

Tina Mc Cafferty
Chief Executive Te Totora Hospice

We work with Timoti Harris, our people love him, and his teaching is making a big difference to our progress. He has a warm and supportive style and delivers learning that challenges but does not alienate.
I have complete confidence in him, would recommend him highly and would be very happy for you to speak with any of our people for further insight.

Catherine Smith
Kaiwhakahaere, Tikanga a Tangata Director People and Organisation Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira

My school engaged with Timoti Harris in 2019 to deliver a Teacher-only Day programme relating to the Treaty of Waitangi. We had some initial conversations to elaborate on our requirements and Timoti was very helpful in this regard. He was able to help us clarify what we were wanting for our staff who are at a range of positions in both their teaching experience and their understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

On the Teacher-only day, Timoti delivered an engaging, inclusive and thought-provoking programme. He captivated our large group of 75 teachers and support staff for a total of 4.5 hours. He was able to cater for the wide range of people providing challenge in a respectful way to encourage us to become ‘active treaty partners’.

This was a very successful day and we gathered some very positive feedback. Many described this as their best PLD ever. A few of their comments are shown below:
Historical dates, events; loved all the ponderings; non-threatening, entertaining delivery through ‘stories’.

Very inspiring, uplifting, reflective and future-forward planning/thinking. Very informative – culturally responsive. Loved purakau and delivery. Whole session was very enjoyable – thought-provoking.

Ka pai, awesome speaker; low pressure environment. Gave a lot of reasons for the why and made us want to find out how ourselves.

We followed up this first session with another in the new year as one part of a multi-session day. Again Timoti was very open to working with us to plan the day and accommodate our wishes. This was another very successful learning occasion.

I fully endorse Timoti as an excellent presenter who will work with you to ensure that your requirements are well catered for. He can assist you to identify and plan your sessions and has an amazing kete of stories and taonga that engages people and reduces barriers.

Jan Kumar
Principal Te Kura Tuarua o Tūranga Wāhine - Gisborne Girls' High School

Kia ora koutou katoa
Ko Matt Simeon toku ingoa
te tumuaki o Te Kura Tuatahi o Pillans Point
No Tauranga Moana ahau

Our kura has had the privilege of having Timoti work with us over the last 3 years to support our culturally responsive pedagogy.

The joy for me has been the way that he has supported our kaiako to embrace a Māori world view, helping them understand that things are not right nor wrong – they just come from a different world view.

Should you personally or as an organisation like to increase your capability, knowledge and understanding in kaupapa Maori, I would fully encourage you to speak to Timoti to shape a programme that will fit your situation.

I would be happy for anyone to call me to discuss further.

Ngā mihi nunui

Matt Simeon
Principal Pillans Point School Tauranga

“Timoti came and provided us with two half day sessions on te reo and Tiriti o Waitangi. Timoti is knowledgeable and thoughtful. The team very much appreciated his training.”

As we embarked on an exciting new programme for our Leaders at Auckland War Memorial Museum named ‘Te Kahu Manahautu’, it became evident we needed someone with expertise and passion to partner with us on our Bi-cultural understanding and journey. We were introduced to Timoti Harris who immediately captured us with his immersion in both the English and Maori worlds. Timoti was quickly able to build strong rapport with our manager groups and individuals on our programme. He has earned the respect of all who were at different stages of their cultural journeys by being approachable, caring, sharing his wealth of knowledge, creating a safe place to learn and share, and being a true leader himself. Timoti has been a pleasure to work with and is highly organised and planned. He is humble and unassuming but has the gift of ‘weaving the people together’.

Rosalie Nelson
Head of People & Organisation Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira

Timoti Harris is an exemplary professional development presenter. He has an ability to engage participants (of all ages) in high order thinking and meaningful dialogue while using easy-to-understand language. My observations would lead me to conclude that these skills and motivational techniques brings learners into the kaupapa, and beyond. Inevitably they take maximum appreciation from the content that is on offer. Of immense importance though is that he knows his subject matter intimately. Whether in a large conference theatre or a small class on a campus or in the workplace, the essence of sound content is sustained and therefore meaningful learning occurs.

The world has experienced tremendous change over the past two decades, and an authentically commensurate approach for the delivery of educational leadership is needed – one that moves in harmony with the new social direction. Timoti has the potential to shift people’s ideas and philosophies while maintaining calm and acceptable relationships at the local level. Cultural responsiveness is at the heart of his thinking and practice. By way of actions as well as words, he models the Treaty principles of partnership, protection, and participation.

Dr Angus Hikairo Macfarlane
Professor of Maori Research University of Canterbury

Our kura had the privilege of Timoti walking us gently through Te Tiriti o Waitangi. His professionalism, coupled with his ability to present from the heart was transformative for our kaiako. We are blessed with the many taonga he left for us. We look forward to continued development with his guidance.

Renay Jones
Assistant Principal Whakatane High School

“Timoti Harris presented a really engaging and thought-provoking presentation on our responsibilities as educators under the Treaty of Waitangi. Timoti is a master story teller and through stories and artifacts, challenged us to think about why and how we need to honour the Treaty.”

Ngaire Harris
Principal Hauraki Plains College Member Hauraki Kahui Ako)

“Our organisation has started on a journey of learning more about the Treaty of Waitangi and starting to embed it in every day practice in our RTLB cluster. We also want to be positioned to support our schools to also embed the Treaty into their organisations. My people loved the way in which Timoti provided us with a better understanding around the Treaty. Timoti has a special way of conveying a message as important as how we need to be addressing the Treaty of Waitangi and I would not hesitate to have him come back to us for further development in this area.

Tīmoti has a rare skill of engaging a whole room of participants who then don’t park what they learnt at the door as they leave the workshop. My people (including myself) have been challenged by Timoti but at the same time have been cared for, they have been listened to and given a voice and we have been left with so much new knowledge that it continues to be thought provoking for all of us. That is what effective professional learning looks like for us….it is the journey AFTER the workshop itself that is critical and Timoti has provided this to us in spades”.

Chris Patten
Manager RTLB Cluster 15 Hauraki

“Timoti has a natural and engaging presentation style coupled with extensive knowledge and wisdom. Staff were extremely positive about the learning and challenge from our morning with Timoti. We look forward to continuing our hikoi with him”

Craig Price
Principal Selwyn Ridge School

    Kia ora koe, greetings to you
    We are looking forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to get in touch via the form below, we will get back to you as soon as possible.

    ADDRESS

    Tīmoti Harris
    Empowering Change - Kia tupu te toi
    433 Seaforth Road
    RD1 Katikati 3177
    Aotearoa/New Zealand

    PHONE

    0275846684

    EMAIL

    timoti@empowering.co.nz