King Country raised Glenda Taituha-Toka has been named one of four finalists in the Young Executive of the Year category at the annual Deloitte Top 200 business awards.
Now into their 35th year, the awards recognise the business community’s depth and range. A black tie awards show and gala dinner will be held on Thursday (December 5) in Auckland.
Glenda Taituha-Toka
Taituha-Toka, who lives in Huntly, is Waikato-Tainui general manager of heritage and identity and a senior manager with tribal post-settlement entities. She leads the grants, scholarships and community distributions for 91,000 tribal members and 68 tribal marae and is a current PhD student researching post-settlement dependency and its impact on identity.
The mother of three is originally from Piopio and is well known for her practical support of whānau. Two years ago she secured a partnership with Southern Cross which saw 14,000 kaumātua receive access to health insurance.
She grew up around the Ōparure Pā, 7kms north-west of Te Kūiti where she credits her “aunties” for teaching her how get in there and do things together.
“Those aunties could run rings around most business leaders,” she said.
Taituha-Toka is the daughter of weaver Gloria Taituha, who for 25 years has been a kaiako at Te Wananga o Aotearoa and currently is a kaiarahi, a leader, of its raranga (weaving) programme at Apakura campus, Te Awamutu.
She is the youngest daughter of Perry Taituha who has been on Ōparure Pā committee for four decades.
Her grandfather is the legendary Kīngitanga orator Pumi Taituha who was one of the speakers for the late Māori queen, Te Ataairangikahu.
She attended Piopio College and then the now closed Church College at Templeview near Hamilton. She gained her Master of Business Administration at Waikato University and is now a Phd candidate at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in Whakatāne.
Taituha-Toka has always enjoyed working for Māori organisations – working for Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in the past before coming to Waikato-Tainui.
The other finalists are Gemma Gloyne (Fletcher Building), Kathryn Luxton (NZME) and Richard Allen (Fonterra).
Category finalists:
Company of the Year: Fonterra, Port of Auckland, Turners Automotive Group; Diversity & Inclusion Leadership: ANZ, Port of Auckland, Powerco; Most Improved Performance: Compass Group NZ, GPC Asia Pacific, The a2 Milk Company; Chairperson of the Year: Dame Rosanne Meo, George Adams, Jan Dawson; Chief Executive: Miles Hurrell – Fonterra, Neal Barclay – Meridian, Roger Gray – Port of Auckland; Sustainability Leadership: Oceania Healthcare, Precinct Properties, Spark NZ; Chief Financial Officer: David Mackrell – NZME, Lyndal York – Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Mike Roan – Meridian; Best Growth Strategy: Infratil, NZME, Vector.
Glenda Taituha-Toka
