Teresa Tepania-Ashton
Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whaingaroa,
Te Rarawa

Teresa has 12 years experience in corporate banking with CITIBANK. She was responsible for major corporate clients in New Zealand that were focussed on global cash management.

She took a break from banking to raise her children and earned a Graduate Diploma in Māori Business Management before returning to work. She took up a position with HortResearch as the Business development leader for Māori where she helped Māori develop land-based projects looking for accelerated pathways to industry and exporting.

In July 2004, she was appointed as the CEO of Te Runanga a-Iwi o Ngāpuhi which represents the largest number of Māori descendants in the country. More than 103,000 people claim to be of Ngāpuhi descent.