Rakihia Tau (Ngāi Tahu) grew up at Tuahiwi Pā in North Canterbury. He is married to Sonya Faisst and has three children. Rakihia runs his own consulting company Ihia Ltd and has held several governance and executive roles across private, public and Iwi sectors. Within Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, he has held the roles of Group Head Strategy Relationships & Investments and Commercial Manager. In the public sector he has chaired a State-Owned Enterprise and is currently the chair of the Crown Forest Rental Trust.

Professor Emma Wyeth (Kāi Tahu, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga) is a genetics specialist and has 20 years of expertise in Māori Public Health research and teaching. She is a Professor of Māori Health at the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury. Prior to this, Emma was the Director of the Ngāi Tahu Māori Health Research Unit and Associate Dean – Māori for the Division of Health Sciences, at the University of Otago. Her research focuses on Māori experiences and outcomes within New Zealand’s health system.

Professor Suzanne Pitama (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Whare) is a registered psychologist, health researcher and advocate. She is the Dean and Head of Campus at the University of Otago, Christchurch. Suzanne has spent her career researching and producing evidence on how the current health system maintains health inequity for Māori. Alongside the team at the Department of Māori/Indigenous Health Innovation (MIHI), she has developed Hauora Māori frameworks and training programmes for health professionals.

Dr Maira Patu (Ngāi Tahu, Te Arawa) is a Māori health professional with extensive medical and education experience working as a General Practitioner, Clinical Lead Māori Health with the former Canterbury DHB, and as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago, Christchurch. Maira has been the Clinical Lead for the MIHI mobile vaccination team, is part of a team working on an Equity Toolkit that has been designed to improve Māori health care experiences and outcomes in hospital departments.