My Taumata Arowai story

Hear directly from our kaimahi about why they joined Taumata Arowai and what drives them.

Photo of Harmony at her desk

A place that aligns with my te ao Māori values

“I wanted to continue my te ao Māori journey, working in an organisation that upholds Te Tiriti o Waitangi, that helps our tāngata  , whenua  , te taiao   and our wai  . When I realised my holistic values and beliefs aligned with Taumata Arowai, I knew I had found a role that could help me achieve those goals.”  Harmony, Regulatory Operations Advisor 

Photo of Courtney-Ruth in front of hedge

It’s all about my communities!

“I am very passionate about working with my community, New Zealand and the environment. Finding an organisation that has those values aligned with what I am passionate about is quite difficult. When I saw the Taumata Arowai job come up, it kind of ticked all my boxes and it had that community aspect – as I really want to engage with groups such as iwi, hapū, Māori. Being a Māori descendant myself, that really spoke to me. I also really appreciated the te ao Māori focus of the organisation – that was probably the selling point!  

There's quite a bit of travel in my role (I’m based in Kirikiriroa Hamilton) – that could be a positive or a benefit for some people. This involves going to site visits for water suppliers. For example, we went to Taupo last week, we had two days there, and the week before we went to Thames Coromandel. I went to Tauranga for a day trip too, and next week we have a day trip to Matamata Piako area. It’s quite good to be on the ground with these people and seeing things in real life happening – not just talking to someone at a “paperwork” level but meeting the operators that are running things is really cool!  

Being part of our kāinga work with whānau, hapū, iwi, kōhanga, papakāinga and marae has kept me passionate and wanting to help and continue to give back to the communities and provide them a bridge to Taumata Arowai. So yeah, that’s great - I really like that!”  Courtney-Ruth, Senior Regulatory Operations Advisor

Photo of Simone at table with notebook

Good people doing purposeful work

“I think everyone here has joined because they want to do something good for New Zealand. I think everyone is super focused on achieving safe drinking water for all of New Zealand. And we're in a really good position to make that happen!   

It's a good group of people, who work hard, who are helpful and supportive, all working on a common goal that we all share and care about.” Simone, Senior Advisor Policy