Jaewynn with her son Tinirau .
Jaewynn McKay
DIRECTOR
From 2006 through to 2012 Jaewynn was the Manager of Communications, Events and Sponsorships at Te Puni Kõkiri, the Ministry of Maori Development. For the two and a half years prior to this, she worked for the Minister of Maori Affairs in the capacity of press secretary/ advisor. Prior to this she was employed as the communications manager on a project team tasked with the construction and commissioning of four new regional prisons for the Department of Corrections, a $600m project.
From February 2012 through to August 2013 Jaewynn was freelance contracting. Her two major contracts during this time were the Governments of the Cook Islands and New Zealand. Jaewynn was the overall co-ordinator of the 43rd Pacific Islands Leaders’ Forum hosted in the Cook Islands in August 2012; following on from there Jaewynn was working with her former employer on a major economic strategy launch culminating with an historic event at the Beehive in Wellington.
Jaewynn Woven Pacific Communications in 2013 and has been working under that umbrella for much of the last year.
Of Cook Islands Maori and papa’a decent, Jaewynn is acutely aware of the responsibilities her heritage brings and this provides her with diversity allowing empathy with many different peoples and situations. Jaewynn has a strong belief in contributing to her community and is involved with many organisations outside of work. She is the current president of the Cook Islands Breast Cancer Foundation, and a Board member of Netball Cook Islands, the Cook Islands Chamber of Commerce, the Creative Centre and the Aotearoa Society.
Jaewynn cut her teeth in communications working for Telecom NZ, in the NZ Parliament, Communicado and the then Ministry of Commerce. Her knowledge of the political process – both central and local government, her ongoing experiences in advocacy, ability to lead by example, natural awareness of cultural issues and ability to develop and implement communications strategies lend themselves to any key strategic position.
She enjoys sports, has played competitive tennis (although not very recently!) and has an interest in aviation – she took part in the Round NZ Air Race a decade ago albeit as a navigator! During her Parliamentary time with Murray McCully she co-ordinated the Parliamentary Rugby Team!
Whilst Jaewynn resides in Rarotonga her city of origin is Auckland and she remains an avid and loyal Blues fan!
Derek with his son Tinirau after the 99th ANZAC Day ceremonies in 2014.
Derek Tinia Fox
DIRECTOR
Derek Fox is the owner and publisher of Mana Magazine, New Zealand’s leading Maori lifestyle and cultural publication which has just published its 117th issue.
Mana specialises in bringing Maori stories to all New Zealanders. It is an example of the innovative and cutting edge developments Derek has made a career of establishing. Others include the first Maori television news programme – Te Karere, Maori Television Service and, Mana Maori Media Limited. Mana Maori Media is an independent and privately owned news, current affairs and tv production house Derek co-founded in the early 90s.
Derek has also helped his iwi, Ngati Porou and Ngati Kahungunu with various projects over the years and substantially lifted the profile of his home town – Wairoa when he spent 12 years on the local council, six of them as mayor.
A native speaker of Maori, during his career Derek has enjoyed working in the community, with small business, corporate and government sectors.
He is a member of the Board of the New Zealand Film and Sound Archives, and is a former member of Toi Maori.
Derek gained a reputation in journalism and communications by pioneering a succession of Maori radio and television initiatives. He is a long-time advocate for his people and people of the wider Pacific.
He enjoys good health.
Tai George
WRITER AND COMMUNICATIONS CONTRACTOR
Tai was born and bred in Otara, Auckland. Her mother, Maria Matalena George (nee Rutera) was from Loto Village in Pukapuka and her father, Vaine Tutai Nio Manu George was from Tengatangi Village in Atiu. Her parents were part of the post-World War II wave of Pacific immigrants to arrive in Aotearoa New Zealand during the late 1950s.
Her family was one of the first to move into the then brand-spanking new suburb of Otara and were founding congregation members of the Otara Pacific Islanders Presbyterian Church.
Tai trained as a journalist at Manukau Institute of Technology and after graduating, moved to Wellington to work on The Evening Post about 30 years ago. Tai also worked in community newspapers as a journalist/photographer before moving into New Zealand public sector communications.
Her first public sector Communications job was the Editor for the Housing Corporation of NZ’s external stakeholder magazine and internal staff newsletter. It was there that she was introduced to publication design, learning to become a Desktop Publisher.
After a few years, Tai moved into policy work, then research and evaluation in Pacific second-chance education and eventually back to communications as a speechwriter and media analyst for Te Puni Kõkiri.
After nearly 30 years in the public service, Tai came home to Otara in August 2013 to help maintain the family home (after her parents passed in 2008 and 2009).
Tai owns her own company, "Kanapa". She is focusing on providing writing and communications services to local Pacific community groups and is delighted to be a part of Woven Pacific Communications' network.
Joining the ‘selfies’ craze, Edna takes a photo of herself at Christmas in Mauke.
Edna Torea-Allan
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Edna was born in Rarotonga and is of Cook Islands (Mauke) and New Zealand descent. Her formative years were mainly spent in Rarotonga and Fiji where her father worked with the NZ Government.
She learned her main ‘trade’ – computer graphic design – in Rarotonga back in the 1990s. In NZ she formalised her learning, gaining a Diploma in Computer Graphic Design from the National College of Design and Technology (now Yoobee).
Edna has used these skills in commercial, education, and volunteer/social sector work creating documents, images, newsletters and various other advertising and printed paraphernalia, including writing and editing as required and web maintenance and image preparation work.
She is most proud of her association with Lagoon Day - an annual environment education expo - where she has used her experience and skills to run the full gamut of what is needed to put on a large successful event that in the end will make a difference for future generations.
She uses industry standard software - Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop - and is also comfortable with Microsoft products like Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Following another area of interest, ‘humans’, Edna also studied counselling and for 5 years, while freelancing graphic design, worked with older people counselling and at a day centre for people with dementia. This helped hone Edna’s oral and aural communication skills, particularly applying active listening principles.
Today, while continuing to support older person’s services through the education of home-based support workers, Edna feels privileged to be able to continue to contribute to the islands of her heart through being part of the service that Woven Pacific Communications provides.
Helen - relaxed Cook Islands style.
Helen Greig
COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT
Helen is a Cook Islands communications professional with a print media background in journalism, editing, publishing and design. She brings her skills in writing, research, media relations and public relations to her role as a consultant.
Helen believes in delivering creative products and solutions tailored to our clients’ vision, and communicating key messages clearly. Based in Rarotonga, Helen has worked as a journalist for more than 10 years, and is a former editor of Cook Islands News.
She is of Rakahanga/Manihiki descent and returned to Rarotonga from New Zealand a year ago.
Helen now works privately as a media/communications consultant for a range of clients from government to NGOs. She also maintains the Woven Pacific website and the Pacific Events calendar. If you have an event you would like added to our calendar, please send an email to Helen.
