Tapuwae Roa: An Indigenous, intergenerational lens to investing in impact

The Tapuwae Roa trust was established in 2004 through the Māori Fisheries Act. The trust’s purpose is to “promote the sustenance of Māori identity; supporting and accelerating Māori social and economic development by providing strategic leadership in education, skills, and workforce development”. Tapuwae Roa has an Indigenous and intergenerational lens to enabling impact, developing both philanthropic and impact investing tools in order to generate impact from all of its funding under management. The trust makes ‘mokupuna decisions’, investing now for impact that trustees now may never see but that will continue to benefit future generations. Read the Tapuwae Roa story below.

In the first video below, Tapuwae Roa Kaihautū, Te Pūoho Kātene, reflects on the funders’ role to amplify the impact of others, by empowering communities that hold mātauranga or knowledge and learning about what is needed to make impact for their people and in their place. In the second video, Te Pūohō talks about investment decisions as a fund manager being driven by the trust’s imperative to be good ancestors and ensure impact for future generations.

NB: This is a case study from The Philanthropic Landscape Volume II: Shifting Culture and Power through Mana-Enhancing Partnerships. Read the full report here.