Workshops
Theme: Homelessness

Ki taha o toku whaea Ko Te Rarawa, me  Pare Hauraki, me Ngāti Apakura ōku iwi , ā, Ko te taha o toku matua ko Ngāti Whātua me ngaa  Iwi katoa o  Tāmaki  oku whanaunga.

My journey of understanding began in 2011, grounded in my lived experience of homelessness and transience. Through this, I was introduced to formal co-design approaches as part of the Empowering Communities project with Auckland City Mission and Auckland Council, working alongside others within the homelessness sector. These experiences shaped my understanding of systems and relationships, and continue to affirm the importance of dignity, belonging, connection, and the value of lived expertise in driving meaningful change.

I have contributed to initiatives such as Kahikatea, a cultural hīkoi along the Karangahape trail, honouring the ancestor Hape and strengthening connections across Tāmaki Makaurau iwi. This work was grounded in tikanga, including karanga, mihimihi, waiata, and shared kai.

In 2016, I was invited to co-design Housing First with Lifewise in the Auckland CBD, alongside the lived experience community and sector leaders, helping prepare for Government investment. During this time, I completed Peer Support 101 with Mind and Body, which led into ongoing leadership roles from 2017.

While initially hesitant to step into more visible, public leadership, I found the kaupapa more important to follow.

In 2024, I contributed to the Housing First national leadership wānanga It Takes, supporting a connected, sector-wide approach that centres lived experience in system change. As part of this, I contributed to a lived experience-led workshop hosted by the Ōtautahi Housing First team, and co-delivered a peer-led session alongside the Whatever It Takes Housing First team in the Bay of Plenty, strengthening shared practice across regions.

Building on this, I worked alongside Community Housing Aotearoa and Te Pou to support the launch of the 2025 Lived Experience Community of Practice Aotearoa, strengthening relational influence across the housing sector.

Looking ahead, my focus is on amplifying lived experience leadership, supporting a more resourced and aligned sector strategy, and strengthening readiness through the adaptation of lived experience frameworks and modules. Partnering with Te Pou provides a strong foundation for this work, enabling a practical organisational readiness and aligned values-led approach to growing capability across the Housing sector.

Nāku noa, nā
Awatea Hawke

Amanda is an experienced leader in the mental health and addiction sector, with over 26 years of professional experience informed by her lived experience and a strong commitment to improving system outcomes. She has held a range of roles predominantly across non-government organisations, with a short stint in primary health care. Amanda has progressed from frontline support roles to senior executive leadership, most recently serving as General Manager for Pathways, where she led strategic, operational, and service delivery initiatives across diverse teams and communities. Amanda has been the National Manager for Consumer, Peer Support and Lived Experience with Te Pou for the past two years. In this role, she provides national leadership to strengthen the lived experience workforce, with a focus on developing sector capability through high-quality resources, workforce development, and sustainable support systems. She is a strong advocate for embedding lived experience across all levels of the mental health and addiction system and is committed to ensuring that the expertise of this workforce is recognised as integral to achieving equitable, person-centred outcomes for tangata whaiora.

Malcolm (Ngāti Tumutumu and Scottish descent) started his working career in the NZ Army, Sales and Building prior to challenging his addiction and the impacts of homelessness, child uplift and imprisonment. Along his hauora journey, he found a new career pathway within the sector starting at a Kaupapa Māori NGO as a volunteer. Over his 5 years' stay with this service he transitioned from a peer support worker to a peer support team lead, then to clinician and programme lead. Relocating from Auckland, where he was raised, to Tauranga with his whānau, Malcolm enjoys spending time with his partner and four children, fishing, carving and Kapa haka.Malcolm's passion lies with the peer support workforce, and the development of well-resourced individuals who are equipped to support our people. It is this passion that promoted his career change to workforce development with Te Pou.