To lead individuals is one thing – but to lead an organisation with love that is powerful enough to radiate through the pores of a business is another. Hinemoa unlocks this superpower for others to embrace and thrive.
It is hard to package Dr Hinemoa Elder into one or two sentences. You listen to her personal story and think ‘wow, so much, so young, so visible’. You hear about her personal challenges and think ‘wow, how did she battle her way through’, then you observe the fierce determination she’s shown to reinvent herself, to invest in substantial skill building and to then take her place as an activist and matriarch and you go ‘wow, if only a fraction of our world’s leaders had a measure of her ability.’
I love this woman for sure But mostly I have a profound respect for the legacy she is creating for so many and the way she has gone about leading.
For more than 25 years, I have been working with rehabilitation professionals across the globe. Dr. Hinemoa Elder is, by far, one of the best child psychiatric collaborators that I have had the pleasure of working with. She is professional, intelligent, passionate about working with and for families with brain injury and functioning to better their lives and her enthusiasm is infectious. She is kind and empathic, and cares deeply about others. Further, her unique multicultural background diverse language proficiency are assets to her clinical and research practice with minority individuals, as she is able to quickly establish rapport with individuals of different cultural backgrounds.
I have had the pleasure of knowing, mentoring and working with Hinemoa for more than 30 years; first as a medical student, then supervising her PhD research studies and more recently when she was appointed as Kaiwhakahaere Māori (Māori Strategic Leader) for our Centre of Research Excellence “Brain Research New Zealand” where she very ably led our Maori outreach and engagement to Aotearoa New Zealand for more than 5 years. Hinemoa is totally committed to the advancement of Māori. She follows both her heart and her head and is relentless in her pursuit of tino rangatiratanga, Māori self- determination in pathways of knowledge and wellbeing. Hinemoa leads from the front and is an agent of change.
During my time in public life I have followed Hinemoa’s progress with great interest – from TV presenter, to medical student, to fully-fledged psychiatrist, and now a widely-published author spanning the worlds of Pākehā and Māori. I value her friendship and professional integrity, and it is for this reason that I approached her to join the Board of Trustees at The Helen Clark Foundation. We are delighted to have her presence and good counsel.
Working with others on complex problems. Identifying the key levers, drivers, imperatives, distractions and blocks. Being a psychiatrist means I have some handy skills and ways to formulate what might be going on. I relish the oscillation of focus from big picture to detail and back again. Finding ways to resonate with both local and global
Like many of us our whānau have served our country in the defence force, some giving their lives. I was proud collaborator on ‘Te Arataki mō te Hauora Ngākau mō ngā mōrehu a Tū me o rātou whanau’, veterans’ families mental health and wellbeing policy framework report.
As a board member of The Helen Clark Foundation we contribute in unique ways to the public discourse on important issues. Working with the lead authors, checking the mātauranga and the science, the synthesis of interpretation and recommendations mean holding the impact on whānau, extended families, alongside the overarching community implications in mind. These two reports have been solid, grunty and rewarding to be part of.
