A Māori entrepreneur is on a mission to encourage Māori into the digital world. Brittany Teei was last year’s recipient of the Dig My Idea scholarship. She says she wants to increase the number of Māori getting into the information technology workforce.
27-year-old Teei had no background or experience in IT, now she's running her own business that teaches kids about money management through technology.
"I definitely didn't have a background in technology at all. I think my capacity was about at the level of sending an email and posting on Facebook."
The idea came from her own experience and mistakes related to financial management. The Dig My Idea Māori Innovation Challenge gave her the opportunity to make her idea become a reality and now she wants to change the poverty mindset among Māori.
"My idea came up through my own pain, my mistakes and sort of going, 'why didn't anyone tell me about this?' Then, posing that question, like why don't we tell anyone about this? That sort of took on my journey to dig deeper and understand what was going on in that space."
ICT is currently the 3rd highest paid job for Māori in New Zealand, however of the total Māori workforce only 2.5% employed in the ICT Sector in 2014. Māori professionals in ICT occupations earn almost double the Māori median income, but they earn less than their non-Māori counterparts.
Dig My Idea Director Patrick McVeigh says, "If we look at the technology sector in New Zealand it's growing exponentially, so in Auckland, it's grown by 26% in GDP terms in the last 5 years. Dig My Idea gives us an opportunity to really encourage more Māori to look at the technology sector as an opportunity for the future."
Within less than two years, Teei is wanting to take her business global. Currently, in schools in New Zealand and the Cook Islands, she is in negotiations with schools in San Francisco.
"Primary intermediate at the moment, we're planning to move into high school but it's a slightly different curriculum so that'll be our next stage of expansion."
As a start, to boost more Māori into the industry, Dig My Idea are inviting Māori to submit ideas that will have transformational benefits for their communities. Applications close 31st March.
A Māori entrepreneur is on a mission to encourage Māori into the digital world. Teei was last year’s recipient of the Dig My Idea scholarship. She says she wants to increase the number of Māori getting into the information technology workforce.