TWSWA - Key Persons

Carole is of Nga Puhi descent and was born in Mangere, South Auckland - the place she was nurtured and calls home. She has been married for 26 years, with daughters aged 21, 29 and 30. Carole was blessed with the first of four mokopuna in 2014. She comes from a ‘blended family' and is the second daughter in a line of 11 children. This has grounded her in the importance of family in all she does as a social worker. Carole commenced her social work journey in 2001. She has experience in various roles including community crisis work, Social Worker in Schools and supervision. Carole is part of the managerial team of Mangere East Family Service Centre. She has spent the past 11 years nurturing grounded ethical practice within the Manaaki Tangata Team, a team of community and school-based social workers. Carole wears many hats; she is a daughter, sister, mother, aunt, grandmother and wife. She has professional affiliations with the ANZASW, TWSWA and SWRB. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Social Work) from Massey University.

Lisa has 30 years community and social work experience including the provision of supervision, practice development and the facilitation of wānanga and education. She has worked in private practice, iwi/Māori, community and government services. She is a lecturer on the Bachelor in Social Work programme at the Open Polytechnic. Her research and practice interests is the development and ‘teaching' of indigenous knowledges and practices, decolonising social work, development of authentic Tiriti o Waitangi based relationships, Māori mana motuhake and tino rangatiratanga. She is a member of Tangata Whenua Social Workers Association (TWSWA), Tangata Whenua Voices in Social Work (TWVSW) and Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW). Lisa is a registered social worker, a recent past board member of the Social Workers Registration Board where she was also chair of the board sub-committee, Te Kōmiti Māori. She has been an active governance member for her marae including land-claim and runanga representative, as well as for a Māori Women's Refuge and a whānau ora collective. She is a current board member for an iwi social and health service in Muriwhenua, where she resides. Her ahikaa connections are to Ngāti Te Aukiwa (Taemaro) and Ngāti Kōhua (Mātaitai), with wider whakapapa ties.

Of Ngati Kahu descent, Robyn's thirty year career in the social services sector has incorporated practice in the statutory, health, education, NGO and Iwi/Maori sectors at front-line, management, leadership and Governance levels. Robyn was the inaugural Chair of the New Zealand Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB), is a past-President of the Aotearoa NZ Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) and a Kahui member of the Tangata Whenua Social Workers Association (TWSWA). Her interest in indigenous social work practice has taken Robyn to explore practice with Canadian First Nations people, Australian Aboriginal practitioners and Native American agencies. Robyn spent five years as a Lecturer at the Centre for Social Work at what is now the University of Auckland. Recently retired, Robyn was most recently employed as the Professional Practice Leader at a large non-Government Organisation, responsible for supporting Managers to ensure the best practice of over 100 social workers and counsellors.