Meet Stacey Mareroa-Roberts | Hine Matarau: Wāhine Leadership Programme

We sat down with Stacey to find out about her leadership journey, what makes Hine Matarau different, and what learners can expect to gain from this course.

Kia ora Stacey! Please tell us about yourself and your leadership journey.

Ko Stacey Mareroa-Roberts ahau. From teenage māmā to lawyer to transformational thought leader, every step of my journey has strengthened my resilience and resourcefulness. My leadership path has woven through education, law, entrepreneurship, horticulture, public service, kaupapa Māori strategy, cultural capability uplift, and public speaking and storytelling.

I’ve had to lead without a blueprint, speak uncomfortable truths in rooms not built for my voice, and hold vision when others could only see limitations.

I carry a number of professional qualifications and leadership credentials, but what truly reshaped my approach to leadership was this: from an early age I became deeply aware of who I am, why I’m here, and what I carry — my whakapapa. When I aligned with that truth, opportunities opened that no credential alone could ever unlock.

For over 15 years, I’ve stood on national and international platforms, often 15 to 20 years younger than the next leader. Not because I pushed my way in, but because I walk in purpose, not in permission.

Every step of my journey has been guided by the belief that your gifts will make room for you — but only if you honour them.

What makes Hine Matarau different to other leadership courses?

This course isn’t not going to teach you how to perform someone else’s version of leadership. Instead, I will guide you on how to return to the truth of who you are, and lead from there with unapologetic clarity.

Hine Matarau blends indigenous wisdom with high-trust, strategic leadership development. Through guided exploration and practical leadership tools, you’ll be challenged to think bigger, feel deeper, and act with conviction.

You’ll leave this course feeling energised and empowered to serve in your community through the focus on what matters most: identity, impact and legacy.

What can participants expect to get out of this course?

My ambition is that you will:

• Gain crystal-clear clarity about your unique leadership gifts
• Build the mindset and frameworks to move from self-doubt to embodied authority
• Develop strategic tools to lead through complexity, influence with integrity, and build long-term impact
• Be supported by a community of wāhine who uplift, challenge, and journey with you long after the course ends.

You’ll learn how to take your story, your struggle, and your strengths and turn them into strategy that creates real transformation for your people, your whānau, and yourself.

You won’t just walk away with a workbook; but you’ll walk away with a deeper awareness of who you are, what you’re here to do, and how to do it with grace, grit, and generational purpose.

Why is it important to have this space for wāhine?

Too many wāhine feel they have to contort themselves to fit into spaces that were never designed with us in mind. Hine Matarau is a carefully created space, designed with the intellectual, cultural and spiritual connection of wāhine Māori at the forefront. This course is a space of restoration, reconciliation and rematriation in action.

I want to support wāhine Māori to unbundle and lead with all of who we are—and when wāhine Māori are given the space to lead in ways that reflect our whole selves, the systems around us begin to transform for good. The future I see has wāhine standing boldly and supported at the interface of leadership, shaping decisions, shifting culture, and serving future generations.

When one wāhine rises in purpose, I believe a whole generation remembers what’s possible. Now it’s your turn.

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Hine Matarau

Find out more about Hine Matarau, and register for the 2025 cohort by clicking here.

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Stacey Mareroa-Roberts is a world-class Development Guide, speaker, and workshop leader dedicated to assisting ambitious individuals and organisations in growing their impact, influence, and income, enabling them to live empowered lives on their own terms. With over a decade of expertise in legal advisory, business development, and professional speaking, she guides and empowers her clients to unlock their full potential.

As a Development Guide, Speaker, and proud Wāhine Māori, Stacey integrates ancestral wisdom from the Māori world into her work, offering a distinctive approach to professional development coaching and speaking engagements.

Stacey is a sought-after speaker and wānanga (workshop) facilitator for transformation by providing business and leadership guidance rooted in indigenous Māori wisdom. She is currently the Kaihautū of Te Pou Takawaenga at Tauranga City Council with a mission for Te Ao Māori to be acknowledged, expressed, normailsed and valued in Tauranga City.