This article was first published in the second issue of Deloitte's global infrastructure magazine, Infrastructure with impact. 

Anthony Ruakere, a partner at Deloitte Zealand and Hourua Pae Rau (Deloitte’s Māori/Indigenous Services Group), is a Māori leader who is passionate about improving the lives of his people. Anthony says, “Growing up in the shadow of my ancestral anchor, Mount Taranaki, keeps me grounded in my sense of place. These roots also guide me in my work, which in part is focused on ensuring that infrastructure design positively represents us as a people and, via delivery, plays a part in addressing the inequities experienced by Māori. To that end, Māori-owned businesses continue to punch above their weight in contributing to New Zealand’s economy.” This often starts with casting a net far and wide to gather like-minded individuals who are equally committed to positive change for Māori New Zealanders.

Anthony and his colleague Chelsea Natana invited Anthony’s friend Nicholas Dalton, founder of TOA Architects, to participate in a meeting to share their combined knowledge and insights to better understand the role that infrastructure can play in addressing indigenous inequity in Aotearoa (New Zealand). The room was silent as Nicholas and Anthony began the meeting by reciting a karakia, the Māori spiritual incantation used “to draw the energies inside and around us, to bless our space and connect us at a deeper level.”

In 2011, Nicholas founded TOA Architects, striving to create real change in the industry for and with Māori communities. In the past 12 years, he has grown the team to three offices with more than 30 employees and is proud to say, “What makes TOA different is that we are 100 percent Māori owned. Our team takes a special interest in the recruitment and retention of Māori within our field, leading the way for a pathway of difference.”

Nicholas grew up in Mamaku, a tiny village where everyone knows one another by their first name. He says, “This community is what shaped my “care factor”. It’s where I learned to harness natural energy and work harmoniously with the people and environment around me – which is a key influence in the work my team and I aspire to produce today.” Nicholas is on a lifelong mission to build ground-breaking infrastructure that enriches Aotearoa. He says, “It is not just about protecting and improving its natural mountains, lakes and rivers but also uplifting its indigenous Māori communities. We take our role seriously as ‘Kaitiaki’ – or guardians – of our clients, Māori communities and mother nature.”

As a young architect, working for some of the largest firms in Aotearoa, Nicholas developed a greater calling as he witnessed a substantial gap in the market. He says, “After reaching maximum frustration with how Māori projects were being handled, I wanted to create something that was bigger than me. That was enduring, that was about culture and whakapapa – our people.”

Kaore te ki, patu te makere noa i te ngutu.
He puoro waihoe i a TOA i runga.
E mataku ana roto i te hau korero;
Wareware i ahau te maru o Taramainuku.
E herengia koia a Kaiwhare rakau ka whiria?
Te ata whakarangona nga mahi a Tāwhaki.
Ko to tinana ra te waiho atu i te hoa;
Ko to pai waewae te tuku mai ki ahau,
Kia huaina atu, e arotau ana mai.
Ka te tiriwa te ripa ki Kinikini;
Kua puawhea te rae ki Hikurangi,
Ki nga tai omanga i te ipukarea o Mokau.
Me ruku ware au te reinga tupapaku;
Kei whakamau kau ki Muru-a-nuku,
Ki taku tau tupu i awhi ai maua.

Hariata Te Huia Rapata – Waikato/Waiohua

How oft do bitter words fall needlessly from ones lips;
So echoes the clamor of the TOA paddle.
Allaying the fears within the anxious tidings;
For I was unmindful of the shelter of Taramainuku.
Is the great Kaiwhare to be confined within the entangled nets?
Unheeded were the accomplishments of Tāwhaki.
You yourself remained always with your friend;
And your kindly footsteps ne’er did come to me,
As a token that you were inclined to see my way.
The dividing line was the hill of Kinikini;
And stormy winds blew upon the heights at Hikurangi,
Where ends the trail of the treasures of Mokau.
Let me, unsung, plunge into the hereafter of the dead;
Rather than fix my mind on Muru-a-nuku,
Where my true love of yesteryear awaits my resolve.