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    • Home
    • Our Work
    • Our Whānau
    • Get Involved
    • Where to Start
    • About Us
    • News & Media
    • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Our Work
  • Our Whānau
  • Get Involved
  • Where to Start
  • About Us
  • News & Media
  • Contact Us

Two perspectives. One gap.

Paul Whatuira -   

Professional sport taught Paul what happens when the game becomes your whole world. He spent his career at the top of professional rugby league, the kind of career most rangatahi dream about. What people didn't see was the cost of getting there, and staying there, without anyone ever teaching him how to navigate it.


Years into his career, while playing in England, the pressure finally caught up with him, not gradually, but all at once. Since then, Paul has worked with athletes, schools, and communities on the mental side that usually only gets addressed once it's already broken. He shares his own story often, on stages across the country, because the silence around it almost cost him everything, and he's not willing to let that silence cost anyone else.


Trina Tamati -

Trina has spent twenty-five years building leaders, culture, and high-performing teams, from Nike NZ to Ticketek NZ, to leading the NRL Auckland Nines as the first woman at the helm, to her own executive consultancy. With degrees in psychology, communication, and leadership, she's watched the same pattern repeat: talented people, under-resourced for the exact moments that test them most.


We came at this from two different directions. Paul from inside the pressure. Trina from watching what happens when the systems around talented people aren't strong enough. What we both kept seeing was the same gap: rangatahi with real talent and no clear map for what comes after the opportunity, and whānau carrying that gap largely alone, largely unseen.


Together, we built Mana Futures to prepare the person behind the opportunity.

meet our ambassadors

 

Our Ambassadors have already stood alongside this kaupapa — through mahi with Internal Strength and Mana Futures — and back what we're building enough to put their name to it.
 

Ruben Wiki

Shontayne Hape

Tawera Nikau

Kiwis Captain, NRL Premiership Winner, NRL Hall of Fame, and a dedicated father focused on community engagement through youth mentorship and confidence building.

Tawera Nikau

Shontayne Hape

Tawera Nikau

Former professional rugby league footballer, board governor, TV presenter, business owner, and a dedicated father engaged in youth mentorship and confidence building through community engagement.

Shontayne Hape

Shontayne Hape

Shontayne Hape

As a dual international athlete and a two-time World Cup Champion in Rugby League, I’m committed to community engagement and youth mentorship, fostering confidence building among the younger generation. Proud father.

Shane Cameron

Shontayne Hape

Shontayne Hape

Business owner and CEO of Shane Cameron Fitness, NZ boxing icon, WBO & IBO Asia Pacific Champion, and dedicated father focused on community engagement through confidence building and youth mentorship.

Meet Our Trustees

Smiling bald man in a dark shirt against a light background.

Paul Whatuira

Paul Whatuira

Paul Whatuira

Our Founding Chair, Director of Internal Strength, and a proud father of Gabrielle and Tamati, is dedicated to fostering youth empowerment through mentoring programs and enhancing community support for rangatahi.

Man in a navy blazer and red plaid shirt with a green pendant necklace.

Arthur Grooby

Paul Whatuira

Paul Whatuira

Principal Analyst, focusing on community support for rangatahi, governance, strategy, and fund management for mentoring programs that drive youth empowerment.

Man with beard and sunglasses on head smiling.

Andrew Palmer

Paul Whatuira

Andrew Palmer

Director Eden Palmer Prewetter, a Business Specialist and Accountant, is dedicated to fostering community support for rangatahi through innovative mentoring programs aimed at youth empowerment.

Our Values

Whakapono | Belief

Kaupapa | Mahi with Purpose

Kaupapa | Mahi with Purpose

We believe in rangatahi before they believe in themselves. Our mentoring programs focus on youth empowerment and community support for rangatahi, aiming to shift mindset rather than just behaviour.

Kaupapa | Mahi with Purpose

Kaupapa | Mahi with Purpose

Kaupapa | Mahi with Purpose

We don’t engage in performative good. Everything we deliver has intent, structure, and real-world application; through our mentoring programs, we provide community support for rangatahi, empowering youth for life beyond just the programme.

Whānau | Community Powered

Kaupapa | Mahi with Purpose

Whānau | Community Powered

Change sticks when it’s collective. We work alongside whānau, schools, clubs, and communities to provide crucial community support for rangatahi, creating environments where youth empowerment flourishes. Our mentoring programs ensure that rangatahi can thrive long after we leave.

Arotahi | Future-Focused

Kaupapa | Mahi with Purpose

Whānau | Community Powered

We build for tomorrow with community support for rangatahi. This includes developing skills, confidence, and cultural grounding, as well as pathways through mentoring programs that translate into opportunities, income, and leadership over time, ultimately fostering youth empowerment.

MANA FUTURES

Rangatahi & Their Whānau

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