Hēmi Rolleston

Governance Representative Board Chair

January 2022 - present

Biography

Hēmi, who is Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāi Te Rangi, and Ngāti Ranginui, was the General Manager Māori Forestry Futures at Scion. Prior to this role, Hēmi worked for Callaghan Innovation, initially as General Manager Māori, and later as interim Chief Executive Officer. During his career at Callaghan, Hēmi led a number of key Māori initiatives including Matariki X, the Māori Food Collective, Nuku ki te Puku and Māori Students to Stanford, Amua Ao. Before this, he spent eight years as Chief Executive at Te Awanui Huka Pak Limited - a 100 per cent Māori owned kiwifruit business. The company won the TVNZ Māori Business of the Year award in 2012. Hēmi is also proud to be the current Chairman of Ngāti Whakaue Assets Trust. He is a strong advocate for New Zealand innovation: "I am passionate about the tremendous value Māori can bring to the table through our stories, our products, our culture, for the betterment of Māori and Aotearoa and I am privileged to be in a position to support that."