"We honour our ancestors, our culture & our struggles by moving forward”
were the resonating words shared by the many Indigenous businesses present at the Roundtable event hosted by Facebook & Whariki Maori Business Network with Chair Heta Hudson facilitating.
Indigenous businesses from Indigenous communities within New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the US gathered to share their entrepreneurial stories with Sheryl Sandberg COO of Facebook & Hon. Nanaia Mahuta, Minister of New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Hon. Nanaia Mahuta leads Atearoa APEC 2020. “APEC is a hugely important international event, and New Zealand is hosting amidst the challenge of global disruption and pandemic,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta.
Sheryl Sandberg joined Facebook as COO in 2008. She manages the company's business operations with a special focus on global expansion.
Sheryl was particularly interested in understanding how Facebook & Instagram can support and have a positive influence on indigenous businesses globally. Over 200 million small businesses are using Facebook’s & Instagram’s free business tools.
“E-commerce can be truly global, which means that people all around the world can purchase and support indigenous Businesses and your communities”
Research has shown that digital tools are critically important now during the Covid-19 pandemic than they were before, understanding how indigenous businesses will use digital tools in the months and years ahead, will enable her and her team to build a product that helps serve businesses better.
“We want economic growth, community growth to be very inclusive. That mean Indigenous Business are a major part of this focus”
In Dec 2020 at the Pōwhiri of APEC, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta states "In a world where we cannot travel due to COVID-19, maintaining contact, collaboration, and cooperation with our regional partners continues to be a key priority for New Zealand,”. This roundtabel gathering shows her leadership and commitment to bringing the above statement to life.
Heart-warming stories of culture, ancestry, history and how we are giving back to our communities and mother earth were shared proudly by Delvene Cockatoo-Collins of Delvene Cockatoo-Collins Art, Jen Harper of Cheekbone Beauty, Maureen Tane of HAPA, Damien Coulthard of Warndu & Lisa Palmer or Law Office of Lisa McNair Palmer incl. our own CEO Blanche Morrogh.
