Startup Dunedin is lucky to have a board made of people who really go to bat for Dunedin and our entrepreneurial community. We’re stoked to have some awesome new faces on our Startup Dunedin board; keep reading for more from their journeys and backgrounds, to what they’re looking forward to in their current board role.
Janine Kapa brings with her a passionate involvement in Māori education spanning 30 years, with leadership roles across compulsory and tertiary education sectors, both locally and nationally.
She is currently the Senior Strategic Advisor Māori at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, the University of Otago, and for Janine, this path was a natural one, inspired by her Pōua (grandfather, George Simôn), a Māori Affairs Officer in the 1960s, and also by her mother, Alva Kapa, who was also a fierce advocate for Māori education.
Janine began her career as a secondary school teacher, returning to her old school as the Kaiako Māori before moving into leadership roles at institutions like Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic. Her journey has been defined by a real commitment to empowering learners and staff, and helping to create spaces for Māori success to flourish.
When asked what she’s most excited to bring to the board, Janine highlights her diverse experience in governance and entrepreneurship, leading to some awesome varied networks she can tap into - a real asset to Ōtepoti overall! She also co-founded Kia Māia Bicultural Communications over 25 years ago, where she helped to develop Te Rito, a transformational e-learning series of modules that aim to build the bicultural competency of organisations, one individual at a time.
Alongside her business ventures, Janine has served in governance roles for organisations like KUMA – Te Kupeka Umaka Māori ki Araiteuru, the Southern Māori Business Network – and the Otago Youth Wellness Trust, and she even co-developed He Kākano, one of the city's very first entrepreneurship programmes offered through the Otago Business School.
For Janine, what sets Ōtepoti apart is its deep history of innovation and entrepreneurship, dating back to tīpuna who first made Te Tai o Araiteuru their home. She’s inspired by the wide variety of Māori businesses and startups she’s encountered through her work - from all sectors and all industries - and sees immense potential for Ōtepoti and Ōtākou to be part of and contribute to the growth of the Māori economy across Aotearoa NZ (which is projected to exceed $100 billion by 2030, by the way!).
Janine’s enthusiasm is summed up beautifully with this whakataukī :
“Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari, he toa takitini – my success is never mine alone, it is the success of many.”