Kataraina Davis, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine, Project Lead Māori at Innovation Unit
Kataraina is passionate about improving the health and well-being of rangatahi, whānau and iwi. She works to bring together people from all over Aotearoa and from different walks of life, organisations, expertise, and skills, to make sense of complex challenges in New Zealand. Kataraina also builds capability within the Innovation Unit team, ensuring a culturally responsive way of being and working, particularly for the indigenous people of New Zealand – Ngai Māori.
In our country, Māori face huge inequalities across health, education, and financial outcomes. As UX designers we hold a key role in shaping the products, services, and experiences offered in Aotearoa New Zealand, so we need to get better at working with, and learning from, Māori if we are to create positive social change in our communities.
Over the past 7+ years, Innovation Unit has been on a journey to develop our cultural competency as a team of social innovation practitioners. In their talk, Kataraina and Rachel will share a recent design research project where they were able to fully dive into Te Ao Māori, and what they - and their project partners - learnt through this experience.
Their talk will challenge and inspire you, giving you practical takeaways to start - or advance - your own journey towards using culturally sound practices in your research work.
