Mr Danny Poa is the Te Koronga Kaitiaki Kaupapa Manager at the University of Otago.

Danny is also a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration that connects communities with world-leading, cross-discipline research to rebuild coastal ecosystems.

Rawiri is a graduate of Massey University and Co-Director of Te Atawhai o te Ao. He was previously Project Manager for MANU AO with the responsibility of implementing key projects, such as the Leadership Course and Academic Forums. 

Rawiri has expertise in Project management; Māori event management; Māori business and organisations; and Māori oral history. He has tribal affiliations to Te Āti Haunui-ā-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Kahungunu me Ngāi Tūhoe.

Dr Kāretu, of Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungunu descent, is one of three Directors of Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo Māori (School of Māori Language Excellence) at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.  He is considered a master of te reo Māori (the Māori language) and is recognised nationally and internationally for his knowledge and work in the language. 

Associate Professor Matamua of Tūhoe, is a senior lecturer based in the School of Māori and Pacific Development at Waikato University. He has undertaken significant research in the areas of Māori language revitalisation, Māori culture, Māori astronomy and broadcasting. In his MA thesis Rangi focused on traditional Tūhoe weaponary, and his PhD examined the role of Māori radio in Māori language revitalisation.

Dr. Jason Turuwhenua is a Research Fellow who works between The University of Auckland’s Auckland Bioengineering Institute and the Department of Optometry and Vision Science. He is the principal investigator on the project Whatukura: A bioengineered model of the human eye. Jason is interested in how engineering methods might be applied to problems in vision. At present he is working on developing 'the virtual eye', a physics-based system for investigating eye disease.