Paulette, (Kāi Te Pahi, Kāi Te Ruahikihiki, Kāi Tahu and Te Atiawa, Ngāti Mutunga) has over twenty years of experience leading the te reo Māori revitalisation strategy for Ngāi Tahu, Kotahi Mano Kāika. She represents Ngāi Tahu on the New Zealand Geographic Board and has just completed two terms as the South Island representative on Te Mātāwai, the national board charged with fulfilling the Government’s strategy for the revitilisation of te reo Māori. Paulette also fulfils many Māori advisory roles for her hapū right throughout the Otago region. She is experienced in facilitation, planning, education, teaching, waiata performance and composition.

Over the last 20 years, Paulette, Komene and their sons Taikawa, Tūmai Te Mānene, Kiringāua and Te Atarau have re-established te reo Māori as a language of normal communication in the home and are moving now in to the next generation with their first grandchild, Tūtemākohu. They are both fully committed and involved in the revitalisation of te reo and tikaka/customs among Ngāi Tahu whānui and the wider community. Both Paulette and Komene are graduates of Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo – The Institute of Excellence in Te Reo Māori.