The Lab was established in 2015 through the Better Public Services Treasury Innovation Fund with the support of Auckland Council and MBIE. Since 2017 the Lab has been funded via shared ‘membership’ that has included several central government agencies and Auckland Council.

This approach means the Lab is able to bring ‘insider’ public sector understanding but also offer a ‘neutral’ and cross-sector perspective, especially on issues that do not sit with any single organisation or agency.

The Lab is located in South Auckland, nested in The Southern & Western Initiative (TSI and TWI) as part of Auckland Council. The place-based focus of TSI and TWI ensures that The Lab’s work is grounded in the lived experience of whānau and the complexity of how policies interact and play out in practice.

Meanwhile, our connection to both local and central government means that we can leverage learning from the ground to inform strategic change at an agency and system level.

1. Live Labs

Live Labs develop, execute and provide support to public sector innovation projects involving whānau, rangatahi and cross-sector partners. They not only produce local benefits for whānau and rangatahi, but build the capability and capacity of the public sector teams involved to grapple with complex issues in more place-based and systems-oriented ways. Some of the Live Labs we currently support include: Uptempo, Tamariki Wellbeing, Taiwhanga Rangatahi, Youth Economy and Healthy Families .

Live Labs prototype, test and demonstrate the role of government in enabling community-led responses, beyond services into ecologies of wellbeing. They model approaches to wellbeing and systems innovation, including experimentation, learning, and defining robust and rigorous approaches to evidence.

We are focused on initiatives that help make visible what the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy looks like when it is activated locally and shaped by rangatahi and whānau leadership. Our Live Labs engage with complex issues that highlight the integrated nature of equity and social, economic, cultural and environmental conditions.

2. Lab Learning

We support public sector capability and capacity to work in participatory, collaborative and strengths-based ways through practice sessions, learning programmes and platforms, workshops, mentoring/coaching and advice.

We promote ethical and Tiriti-based design and evaluative practice by providing tools, frameworks and platforms to help teams assess their current capability, and identify pathways for development.

Working with a range of learning partners locally and internationally we create platforms and opportunities for collaboration and learning across agencies, sectors and communities, with a focus how whanauand rangatahi-led innovation can inform policymaking.

3. Lab Insights

We share practice-based evidence about what works to enhance equity and intergenerational wellbeing in specific contexts, especially new starting points developed alongside whānau, rangatahi and communities.

We share and amplify what we and others are learning to inform policy and build stronger learning loops between policy and practice. This takes the form of tools and resource sharing, briefings, blogs, case studies, public presentations and walkthroughs, symposia, joining or building communities of practice, and local and international events.

Focus areas for Lab Learning and Lab Insight include:

• Systems approaches to wellbeing, reconfiguring systems resources for healing, strengthening and responding,

• Commissioning and investment for wellbeing capacity - activating local ecologies of support (spaces, places, systems),

• Role of government in enabling community-led, people powered responses - beyond services,

• Tracking & measuring what matters & makes a difference for whānau,

• Evaluative practice frameworks that support place-based innovation.

Dr Tze Ming Mok

Data & Insights Lead

Tze Ming is a mixed-methods social research methodologist with a background in human rights advocacy, social policy, and communications.

Born and raised in Mt Roskill, she spent a decade in London and Geneva, where she worked for the UN, Amnesty International, and NatCen Social Research, and completed a PhD at the London School of Economics. She returned to Aotearoa in 2017, where she is known for her political writing, anti-racism activism, and relentless sarcasm.

She is a council member of the Population Association of New Zealand, and has previously worked for the NZ Human Rights Commission, MSD, and the NZ Refugee Status Branch.

Jessica Trask

Systems Innovation Lead

Jessica was raised in Tauranga Moana on the whenua of Ngāti Ranginui,  Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Pūkenga with ancestry to Ireland, Germany and England.  She loves learning and is experienced at working in highly complex environments to build social capital to create more equitable systems.

She joins the team with a strong design skillset with particular experience in designing for equity, systems thinking and intervention, and domestic violence and child abuse.  Jessica has worked across central and local government in a variety of capacities and has the experience, enthusiasm and the resilience required to work in shifting complex (crown) systems. 

She is passionate about decolonisation and the role of Tangata Tiriti in working for racial equity and works at both individual and collective levels towards a Te Tiriti centric Aotearoa.

Eruini Hawke

Mātauranga Māori Capability Lead

Tirohia atu te Pane-o-Horoiwi
Whakapukepuke whakatikitiki ki waho rā.
He Tikitiki he Kawau, he Kawau he Tikitiki
Ka heke ki Tahuna Torea
He Tikitiki he Kawau he Tikitiki
Ka eke, ka eke ki te Waitematā
Tihei Mauri Ora!

Eruini was raised on his ancestral lands in Tāmaki Makaurau – on a little slice of heaven known as Takaparawhau, Bastion Point.
He spent his childhood years under the watchful eyes of his grandparents Rene and Joseph Hawke. As a mokopuna of Māori land activists, Eruini inherited the profound role of being a kaitiaki (cultural guardian) of his whenua, moana, and taiao.

With over twenty years of experience in environmental spaces – his career reflects his personal commitment to protecting te mauri o te taiao. His expertise is in native forestry, ecological restoration, and conservation, rongoā Māori, resource management, para kore, ecotourism, and biodiversity care.

He has a strong foundation in Te Ao Māori – inclusive of te reo me ōna tikanga, kōrero tuku iho and mātauranga ā-iwi. His inherent connection to the taiao is what drives him, and he ensures that his work is always guided and informed by the teachings of his tūpuna. He is also deeply committed to the service of his people and has worked closely with his own iwi and communities. A true child of Tāne Mahuta, he is happiest when his hands are in the soil.

Eruini is a proud father of two and has iwi affiliations to Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Maniapoto.

Riki-Lee Saua

Systems Learning Lead

Mauri ora ki a tātou! Mā ngā tapuwae o ōku tīpuna ahau e mōhio ai. He uri tēnei o Ngāpuhi, Te Roroa me Tainui.

Raised in the vibrant community of South Auckland, Riki-Lee has an extensive background in librarianship, learning support, cultural capability and research. Her career spans roles such as Kaiwhakarato Parongo Rangahau Māori, Senior Learning Specialist—Kaupapa Māori, Kaiako Reo Māori and Team Leader, Learning and Teaching Development.

Riki-Lee holds a Bachelor of Arts (Māori and Sociology) from the University of Auckland and a Master of Information Studies from Victoria University of Wellington.

In her role as Systems Learning Lead, Riki-Lee is dedicated to empowering learning through the Niho Taniwha framework, using it as a tool to influence systems change and foster a more equitable future for whānau.

Whaowhia te kete mātauranga!