Meet our Tupu Tai alumni

Sisifa Lui: Hi guys! My name is Sisifa Lui and I’m from Auckland.

Therese Fatu: My name is Therese Fatu. I was placed at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

Vivita Matanimeke: Bula Vinaka, my name is Vivita Matanimeke and I’m from the Fiji islands.

Fereti Neemia: Fereti Kalata Neemia. I am of Samoan descent. I hail from West Auckland.

Justin Graham: Malo Ni I’m Justin Tekua, I’m from Wellington and I was at Ministry of Defence for my internship.

Why is the Tupu Tai internship important for our pasifika people?

Sisifa Lui: I definitely believe that Tupu Tai should continue because there is still a high demand for our Pasifika people to be in these spaces and in terms of policy that needs to be reflected.

Therese Fatu: It’s a gateway that we need! I think there is a huge population of Pacific people in this country that just need to be given a chance and for someone to believe in them.

Fereti Neemia: That it’s given us an insight of what the government or working as a public servant in the public sector actually really is.

Justin Graham: Is encouraging the public sector and the government just need to be more representative of New Zealand communities.

Vivita Matanimeke: Are to expose them to the policy world. I believe a lot of us don’t have the right pathways or the right connections to allow us to be in this space.

Genezy Ilolahia: The Tupu Tai program has created a space where I can meet leaders where I wouldn’t otherwise meet young leaders, seasoned leaders that are all change oriented and like minded. 

Why did you choose the Tupu Tai internship?

Genezy Ilolahia: I chose the Tupu Tai program mainly for personal and spiritual reasons but I guess I wanted to see what the public sector was like. I know a massive part of what I want to do in the future is solving the social ills that plague our society. I think policy making within the public sector gives me a good glimpse of the cogs that make up this machine that we call government.

What was an important moment for you during your internship?

Genezy Ilolahia: So this program provided opportunity to rub shoulders with a great leader who happened to be Pacifica and I got to sit down with him and really pick his brain and he gave me some really good advice which created a space that fostered a lot of growth.

Sisifa Lui: Hi guys! My name is Sisifa Lui and I’m from Auckland.

Therese Fatu: My name is Therese Fatu. I was placed at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

Vivita Matanimeke: Bula Vinaka, my name is Vivita Matanimeke and I’m from the Fiji islands.

Fereti Neemia: Talofa lava my name is Fereti Kalata Neemia. I am of Samoan descent. I hail from West Auckland.

Justin Graham: Malo Ni I’m Justin Tekua, I’m from Wellington and I was at Ministry of Defence for my internship.

What was your learning moment?

Fereti Neemia: A learning moment is actually um policy writing. Ahh there’s two types of writing. I never knew there was two types of writing.

Justin Graham: Just the realisation of the sheer volume of work that the minister actually does. You know I didn’t...going into the internship I didn’t have much idea as to what the intern was like.

Sisifa Lui: You gotta make sure that being a Pacific voice doesn’t exactly mean you should hold too much expectations on yourself and to um cause a strain or expect too much on what that looks like.

Vivita Matanimeke: Doing the report bit. You have to do a lot of research. Um and that took a lot because I didn’t know what people already knew.

Therese Fatu: Learning about being impartial. So, I mean, as Pacific people, we get passionate about um the successes of the people in our community and I really wanted to see them do well and prosper.

Akasha Rio: Kia ora my name is Akasha Rio and I am with the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.

Sulu-Danielle Joshua: So my name is Sulu-Danielle and I am at the Ministry for Women.

What was one of your biggest challenges?

Akasha Rio: One of the biggest challenges I faced coming into this program was Imposter Syndrome and my team really helped build my confidence and belief in myself to overcome that. 

Sulu-Danielle Joshua: So the main challenge for me was wondering if I have a high enough role to speak for my people, but luckily for me, my Ministry, they really encouraged me to call anything out or speak up for my people, if I feel they are under represented in any policy before we put them out. 

Would you recommend this programme to your friends and why?

Sulu-Danielle Joshua: You should apply for Tupu Tai because it gives you amazing opportunities and you get to network with awesome people. 

Akasha Rio: First of all, have faith in yourself, kia kaha! You do have the skills and you do have the mindset to be in this role. Overcome the internal struggle that you think you’re not good enough, because you are. Your family thinks you’re good enough, your tupuna thinks you’re good enough and you are good enough! So just apply.

Sisifa Lui: Hi guys! My name is Sisifa Lui and I’m from Auckland.

Therese Fatu: My name is Therese Fatu. I was placed at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

Vivita Matanimeke: Bula Vinaka, my name is Vivita Matanimeke and I’m from the Fiji islands.

Fereti Neemia: Talofa lava my name is Fereti Kalata Neemia. I am of Samoan descent. I hail from West Auckland.

Justin Graham: Malo Ni I’m Justin Tekua, I’m from Wellington and I was at Ministry of Defence for my internship.

What was your winning moment?

Sisifa Lui: Definitely be obviously getting the internship for the Ministry of Pacific Peoples. In itself that just reflects how there is a dire need for us to be in the space especially with policy.

Vivita Matanimeke: Was when I did my presentation. I was really proud of the work that I’m doing and I said what I wanted to say to the policy teams.

Therese Fatu: When my team adopted the influence that I was trying to bend into the teams.

Justin Graham: At the very end when I did my presentation to back to my team. And that was really... for me that was a really meaningful way of saying thank you and also being able to showcase a bit of the work that we had done.

Fereti Neemia: Was actually preparing a piece. The memorandum or a brief you could say, to the State Services Commission. Someone in my line of work would never dream of having something created by myself with my own writing sent and signed off by the head of State Services Commission.

Akasha Rio: Kia ora my name is Akasha Rio and I am with the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. 

Sulu-Danielle Joshua: So my name is Sulu-Danielle and I’m at the Ministry for Women. 

What did you enjoy most about your internship?

Sulu-Danielle Joshua: So what I really love about this internship is the experience and moving cities. It’s not just a professional kind of setting, it’s about moving and learning how to pay rent, learning how to liaise with others, learning how to network both personally and professionally.

Akasha Rio: So the thing I really enjoyed about the internship is having a team that really supports the Maori and Pacifica ideals of being people centric. 

Would you recommend this programme to your friends and why?

Akasha Rio: I would definitely recommend this program to my friends. It doesn’t just provide professional development for you, it provides a safe network and we need more Pacifica people in the public sector. 

Sulu-Danielle Joshua: I would recommend Tupu Tai to my family and friends because of the opportunity that it gives us and the relationships that you build.

Sisifa Lui: Hi guys! My name is Sisifa Lui and I’m from Auckland.

Therese Fatu: My name is Therese Fatu. I was placed at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

Vivita Matanimeke: Bula Vinaka, my name is Vivita Matanimeke and I’m from the Fiji islands.

Fereti Neemia: Talofa lava my name is Fereti Kalata Neemia. I am of Samoan descent. I hail from West Auckland.

Justin Graham: Malo Ni I’m Justin Tekua, I’m from Wellington and I was at Ministry of Defence for my internship.

In three words, describe your journey at your internship.

Vivita Matanimeke: Number one FRIENDS. I’ve made a lot of friends. A lot of relationships that I know will be useful in the future. Number two a huge learning curve, just learning how things happen in the public sector. And number three, getting that exposure.

Justin Graham: Growth, trust and aroha from everybody involved.

Neemia Fereti: Great! Humbling and service.

Therese Fatu: It was inspirational. It was really raw because I felt I really had to expose parts of myself that I maybe wasn’t comfortable with in order to continue on the journey. And it was an opportunity.

Sisifa Lui: The people. The people. The people. That’s all I have to say.