Tools to advance whānau, hapū, iwi social, cultural, health and economic wellbeing

SHARON SHEA

Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Hako, Ngāti Haua

Sharon Shea. Principal. Shea Pita & Associates Ltd.

MNZM, MSC Comparative Social Policy (Oxon), BA/LLB (Auckland).

Sharon has been providing consulting services for nearly 20 years. Sharon is a director and principal of Shea Pita and Associates Ltd, a kaupapa Māori company that specialises in equity, diversity, outcomes and working with clients to create sustainable and effective solutions.

Sharon graduated from Oxford University at the top of her class with an MSc in Comparative Social Policy (Distinction)[1]. She also has a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from Auckland University. Sharon began her career in 1993 as a lawyer and then moved into the health sector where she held a range of senior management roles in government and non-government organisations focussed on Māori health improvement. In 2000, Sharon worked in England in the NHS and completed postgraduate studies.

Sharon is widely recognised as a leader in the field of health and disability sector strategy, outcomes framework development – applying Friedman’s Results Based Accountability™ Framework[2]-equity strategy and practice, project management, change management and systems design. Sharon also offers substantial experience in how to improve organisational performance. Sharon is an evaluator and has completed several process and impact evaluations for government and non-government organisation clients. Sharon is particularly interested in reducing health, social, education and economic inequities across all populations; especially those considered ‘at risk’ or requiring support to realise social justice.

Sharon holds a variety of Board memberships for both private and public/not-for-profit organisations and, as requested, fulfils Ministerial appointed roles. For example, Sharon is currently the Interim Chair, BOPDHB and most recently chaired the Māori Expert Advisory Group that advised the Health & Disability System Review (The Simpson Report).

In addition, Sharon is also a director of Manawaroa Ltd, which is a kaupapa Māori service provider specialising in the design and provision of trauma and mātauranga Māori informed education and capability building programmes for individuals and whānau (this programme is called Puāwai). This company also provides a kaupapa Māori resilience framework called Manawaroa. All programmes are evidence and kaupapa Māori based with robust evaluation and outcome focused data analytics.

In 2019, Sharon was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to Māori health and development.