Tiana Watkins

Tēnā koe,

I am a mokopuna, daughter, mother and grandmother hailing from Tauranga Moana where my tīpuna arrived on both the Mataatua and Takitumu waka. I whakapapa to all three iwi Ngai te Rangi, Ngati Pukenga and Ngati Ranginui; I also whakapapa to Ngāi Tahu (Kai Tahu).

I am the Senior Manager for New Zealand’s very own national suicide prevention programme, LifeKeepers and Mana Akiaki – LifeKeepers for Māori.

My professional background started in Public Health where I spent 14 years working in the Bay of Plenty; following this I spent five years working in Australia where I was afforded the privilege of working with Victoria Police, Department of Corrections, Specialist Family Violence and Sexual Assault Services, Child Protection Services and non-government community support services where I was responsible for establishing the first of 18 Family Violence Risk Assessment and Management Panels (RAMP) for the Victoria State Government. On my return to Aotearoa I took up another exciting challenge of working for Housing First Auckland in the homelessness sector. Finally, my most recent and closest to my heart venture has now landed me with Le Va leading New Zealand’s National Suicide Prevention Programme – LifeKeepers.

My university background is in Public Health, Social Policy and Psychology. I have also studied and qualified in other areas such as Cervical Screening, Lactation Consultant, and Smoking Cessation.