Kendall Flutey of Ngāi Tahu is a Māori tech entrepreneur with a vision to help her people and tonight she has been named the winner of the Te Whetū Maiangi Award for Young Achievers at the 2019 Matariki Awards.
Flutey was honoured for her work in partnering with Kiwibank to create Banquer, a programme which teaches saving, investing, borrowing and purchasing to primary and intermediate schools.
Banquer launched in January 2015 and has been used by more than 70,000 rangatahi within Australasia.
It recently released a te reo Māori version, Pēkē Kā, with the help of Vini Olsen-Reeder, a lecturer at Victoria University’s Te Kawa a Māui, or School of Māori Studies.
Flutey was also named Young Māori Business Leader of the Year at the University of Auckland Aotearoa Māori Business Leaders Awards.
The purpose of the Te Whetū Maiangi Award for Young Achievers was to honour inspirational rangatahi who are proactive in social and community situations and are motivating and encouraging others.
Other finalists for the award this year were New Zealand pro surfer Te Kehukehu Butler and paddler Garielle Wainohu.
Finalist Te Kehukehu Butler. Source: File
Butler was the first New Zealander to win the Australasian Pro-Junior Series since Maz Quinn in 1996, and placed fifth at the World Junior Championships in Taiwan.
Wainohu won Junior Maori Sportswoman of the year at the 2018 Maori Sports Awards Gabrielle Wainohu, after claiming gold in the world junior 16 woman’s 500m V1 (individual) final.
Finalist Gabrielle Wainohu. Source: File
Former winners of the award include Alien Weaponry in 2018, Julian Dennison in 2017 and Ezekiel Raui in 2016.