Mentorees are sometimes small business owners, sometimes in start-up phases, or are in business already and want some mentoring. In our programme the role of the teina (mentoree) is to show aroha / reciprocity and manaakitanga to the tuakana (your mentor). How you do this is up to you and your mentor to establish. One way of showing manaakitanga could be that you could offer to pay for coffee or lunch when you meet with your mentor.

Our mentors act as a sounding board, challenge assumptions and may be able to give referrals to agencies and support services, and to resources. They have had lived experience and understand the highs, lows and everything in between of a business journey. Their interest, knowledge, and experience to support someone who owns a business or is considering starting a business makes them invaluable. Our mentors are diverse and come from a range of industries. They know what is like to make a business prosper in Aotearoa, and have at times struggled in business, so ‘know the ropes’, so to speak. Many of our mentors have and continue to have mentors themselves, helping them avoid pitfalls and gaining invaluable knowledge to help progress them to achieve their goals. Our mentors are given guidelines including these characteristics to help inform their mentoring appoach.

In the initial month, we would expect you to meet kanohi to kanohi for ‘hononga building’ and whakawhanaungatanga with your mentor. This initial meeting is a ‘chemistry check in’ and will help you ground your relationship and establish expectations going forward. Following the initial hui, the frequency of when you meet is up to you and your mentor. For some it may only be a few hours every couple of months that is required, for others it may mean a coffee catch up every month. You will only ever be assigned to a mentor with your permission. If you see someone on our mentor profile page that you would like to be matched with, let us know and we can see if they are available. Our mentors will act as a sounding board, challenge some of your assumptions and may be able to give referrals to agencies and support services, and to resources. However, it is not a consultancy role where mentors develop business plans etc with you. If that kind of arrangement is pursued, it will be outside of the My Māori Mentor programme and cost and contracting arrangements will be strictly between you both independent of My Māori Mentor.

Mentoree Benefits. Te Aka Kumara (Kumara Vine) Mentoring is a mutual relationship. Although the mentor may have information and skills that will assist you, the relationship is reciprocal, and each can benefit from the other over the course of the relationship. Further, you both can provide opportunities and connections to each other that strengthen the pakihi Māori kumara vine. Hauora (Health) Mentoring is also a hauora and rongoā initative. Some business owners describe mentoring as a strategic investment in their business health and safety plan. Other business owners describe mentoring as a rongoā (medicine) particularly when they feel stuck on an issue or need a confidante to speak to. Opportunity Dividends Having numerous mentors is normal in Te Ao Māori and Māori business. Different mentors can provide different skills and whakaaro at different stages of a business journey and having more than 1 mentor in business means more opportunity dividends.

Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. If for any reason you are not satisfied with the nature of the relationship a-wairua, a-mauri, or it just isn’t working, and you would prefer to no longer be matched – we have an easy and mana maintaining process set up and can find an alternative for both parties.

If the mentoring relationship is working out great and you would like to commend your mentor, we would happily profile your mentoring journey in the next available publication.

You can apply HERE.

The role of the mentor is to act as a sounding board, challenge assumptions, and, if appropriate give referrals to agencies, support services, and to resources. Our mentors have had lived experience and understand the highs, lows and everything in between of a business journey. Their interest, knowledge, and experience in supporting a person who owns a business or is thinking of starting a business makes them invaluable. Our mentors are diverse and come from a range of industries. They know what is like to make a business prosper in Aotearoa, and have at times struggled in business, so they ‘know the ropes’ so to speak. Many of our mentors have and continue to have mentors themselves, helping them avoid pitfalls and gaining invaluable knowledge to help progress them to achieve their goals. Our mentors have the below characteristics, which help inform their mentoring approach.

To be a mentor you will have operated your own business for at least 3 to 5 years and would have experienced some success.

In the initial month, we would expect your mentoree to come and meet with you kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) for ‘hononga building’ and whakawhanaungatanga. This initial meeting is your ‘chemistry check-in’ that helps ground your relationship and establish expectations going forward. Following that, the frequency of when you meet is up to you and your mentoree. For some, it may only be required for a few hours every couple of months. As a mentor, you will act as a sounding board and give advice; however, it is not a consultancy role where you are expected to develop business plans etc. If that kind of arrangement is pursued, it will be outside the My Māori Mentor programme. Cost and contracting arrangements will be strictly between you and the mentoree independent of My Māori Mentor. You have the choice of how many mentorees you would like to take on every year and will only ever be assigned to a mentoree with your permission.

Koha atu Koha mai (reciprocity) Being a mentor means sharing time, aroha and knowledge. A mentor’s commitment to manaaki another is an opportunity to koha atu (gift to others) and support the wellbeing of Māori whānau. Whakawhanaungatanga Pakihi Māori (Māori Businesses) have an innate and unique position of bringing whānau along with them. A pakihi Māori journey is a whānau Māori journey meaning pakihi Māori success is whānau success. Being a mentor can help provide another support system that can make a real difference to whānau. Te Aka Kumara (Kumara Vine) Mentoring is a mutual relationship. Although you may have information and skills that will assist the mentoree, the relationship is reciprocal, and you can benefit from each other throughout the relationship. Further, you can both provide opportunities and connections that strengthen the pakihi Māori kumara vine. Hauora (Health) Mentoring is also a hauora and rongoā (medicine) initiative. Some business owners describe mentoring as a strategic investment in their business health and safety plan. Other business owners describe mentoring as a rongoā, particularly when they feel stuck on an issue or need a confidante to speak to. Being a mentor can provide a fail-fast, fail-safe mechanism and make a real difference to a person's Māori business journey.

Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out. If, for any reason, you are not satisfied with the nature of the relationship a-wairua, a-mauri, or it just isn’t working, and you would prefer to no longer be matched – we have an easy and mana-maintaining process to find an appropriate alternative.

If the mentoring relationship is working out great and you would like to commend your mentoree, we would happily profile your mentoring journey in the next available publication.

You can register HERE to become a mentor.

My Māori Mentor is a programme that is wholly owned and delivered by Te Matarau a Māui - an independent Māori charity committed to prosperous Māori economic futures. My Māori Mentor introduces Māori business owners, startups and even seasoned business entrepreneurs to skilled mentors who will share their knowledge and experience. Te Matarau a Māui was established by Māori in business, for Māori in business. We are proud to have close working relationships with the Wellington Māori Business Networks and other agencies that are closely aligned with our vision.

· My Māori Mentor is a free introductory service. · We have a network of mentors from across the Wellington Region. · Our coordinator works alongside mentors and mentorees to find a suitable match. · Mentors are offering their time to manaaki mentorees. · The relationship is based on the concept of tuakana / teina. · If there are any costs going forward – this will be up to the mentor and the mentoree to establish – for example - this could be the price of a coffee or lunch. · My Māori Mentor isn’t a Qualified Financial Advisory service.