Te Oranganui welcomes intern Alyeska Shore, a Global Studies student exploring art therapies for displaced communities. Informed by her own healing, she champions holistic care, draws on Māori symbology, and will help connect cultural knowledge with suicide prevention.

Baillie Chadfield, Kahurangi Simon Jnr, and Keita Puru began as parents in the Hapū Māmā and Pāpā Villages. Today, they’re part of Te Whare Piringa, turning lived experience into leadership and whānau aspirations into reality.

Jarna’s journey with Healthy Families WRR shows the power of rangatahi leadership, from kaupapa Māori initiatives to her internationally recognised Gambling Harm Insights Report.

After studying psychology in Wellington, Kaia Potaka-Osborne returned to Whanganui to support whānau wellbeing through Te Oranganui’s Mokopuna Ora initiative. Her journey highlights the power of coming home, internships and whānau-centred care.

Isobel “Izzy” Clawson, a 19-year-old anthropology student from Indiana, reflects on her internship with Healthy Families Whanganui, Rangitīkei, Ruapehu. Immersed in kaupapa Māori and community-led systems change, she shares her learnings about power sharing, cultural connection and designing with communities, not for them.

Meet Bella Smith, a global studies scholar from the USA bringing Afro-Indigenous insight to Aotearoa. Learn how her work with Healthy Families WRR is advancing local research, Māori wellbeing, and indigenous-led solutions.