Our Team

alana.thomas@kaupare.co.nz

Since Alana graduated with LLB/BA from the University of Auckland in 2007, she has been involved in a wide range of practice areas including Criminal Law, Family Law, Commercial Law and Civil Litigation.

She has predominantly been involved in Māori legal issues representing clients in the Māori Land Court and Appellate Court as well as representing a number of iwi, hapū, whānau claimants in Waitangi Tribunal historical and urgent inquiry processes. She is also Co-ordinating Counsel in a number of these inquiries.

Alana is a member of Te Hunga Roia Māori o Aotearoa (The Māori Law Society), past president of Te Rākau Ture (Māori Law Students Association) and currently assisting in the establishment of Wahine Māori in the Law. Prior to practising law, she worked as a Deputy Registrar at the Māori Land Court in Whangarei. Alana is fluent in Te Reo Māori and is a strong advocate for the use and promotion of Te Reo Māori within the law.

Outside of work, Alana is a keen sportsperson, wife and mother who has competed regularly at regional and national kapa haka competitions for Hātea.

apimaera.thomas@kaupare.co.nz

Apimaera is of Māori and Cook Island heritage. After completing a BA at University of Auckland, he has worked in the health sector since 2009. Primarily working in public health, Apimaera has been involved in Community Action initiatives such as CAYAD (Community Action Youth and Drugs), sitting on its National Action Group, Kia Piki Te Ora – All Age Māori Suicide Awareness and Prevention. He has also worked in the social sector as a Kaitoko Whānau support worker and being a Lead Professional on the Whangarei Children’s Team.

These kaupapa have enabled Apimaera to serve on governance groups at community and DHB levels in a Māori and Community Advisory capacity. Through his work, Apimaera has been able to develop programmes and strategies through a kaupapa Māori lense, to facilitate the mobilisation of whānau and communities into more positive outcomes. He has a passion for helping whānau engage in realising their potential as well as developing the understanding of Te Ao Māori within whānau, schools and communities.

Outside of work, Apimaera is a father, a husband and a Mau Rakau (Māori Weaponry) practitioner as well a member of the Waitemata Buffalos Presidents rugby team.

kerri.hancock@kaupare.co.nz

Kerri’s key expertise comes from her time working for the Crown, and her iwi, in the Treaty settlement sector. During her time in the Treaty sector, Kerri has gained specialist knowledge of both commercial and cultural redress and has designed and implemented policy on both sides of the fence. Most importantly she has been involved in negotiations which pushed boundaries and achieved positive results for iwi.

Her experience working for both the Crown and her iwi, allows Kerri to look at issues from different perspectives, create pragmatic solutions and deliver for her clients. She also understands the dynamics of decision-making in the current political climate.

Kerri believes that planning and preparation is key to success and that once that is done, you have to knuckle down and work hard in order to achieve. This formula is what has allowed her to deliver on outcomes time and time again.

Kerri is passionate about her tamariki, whānau and iwi, and about normalisation of Te Reo Māori. She holds governance positions in various roles within Te Arawa and spends what little spare time she has unsuccessfully attempting handstand pushups at Crossfit.

teamohaere.morehu@kaupare.co.nz

After graduating from the University of Auckland, Te Amo further developed her skills working in Dublin and London where she gained specialist insight into the economies and industries of the Northern Hemisphere. Her strong connection to her whānau and whenua is what encouraged her to return to Aotearoa. Combining her two passions of Te Reo Māori and marketing, Te Amo leapt into the New Zealand media industry hungry to establish herself as a marketer who goes ‘beyond the beyond’. Te Amo has a strong perspective on all aspects of marketing. She specialises in brand, marketing, digital and social media strategies and takes pride in portraying the right story at all times.

Fluent in Te Reo Māori, the normalisation of her language is at the forefront of everything she does. Te Amo is a ninja when it comes to time management. Not only is she #winning in her career but she also manages to keep her Te Reo Māori household clean… and that’s with four tamariki under eight years old! Her competitive nature doesn’t go amiss in anything she does including her own sports, sports-mum duties and on the international kapa haka stage.

tearepa.morehu@kaupare.co.nz

Since Te Arepa finished at Auckland University of Technology, he has been involved in a wide range of work which has allowed him to develop the strong communication skills needed to simplify highly technical language. He has an appreciation of business requirements, responsibilities and strategies and getting things right the first time.

Te Arepa’s expertise has been built on his background of studying IT and holding positions as a technical specialist in companies across the world. He then moved into the project space, focusing on business analysis. Te Arepa has gained specialist knowledge on business improvement through end to end process mapping of current and future state for large corporate initiatives, elicitation of business requirements and stakeholder management to ensure alignment with deliverables.

Te Arepa is passionate for Māori success and professional in all his enterprises. He is intelligent and honest in everyday life with a high focus on his whānau and holds a directorship on the Ngāti Whātua Whai Rawa board. Outside of being a samurai, he likes to spend his spare time rolling around on the ground with his rapidly growing kids.