In September and October we reached the significant milestones of hosting Le Va’s inaugural ‘Navigating Mental Health’ and ‘Navigating Addiction’ trainings.
Just as Pasifika people have long understood the moana and how to navigate their way to safe shores, we acknowledge that our frontline Pasifika health providers are expert navigators. This is especially true when it comes to making connections, creating a safe space, and engaging in respectful talanoa with tagata ola.
Both interactive workshops aim to further equip the workforce with relevant knowledge and skills that can be applied with clinical and cultural integrity. They focus on the importance of holistic wellbeing and strategies to support Pasifika people who experience common mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, and addiction to alcohol and other drugs.
These trainings were developed after consultation with Pasifika services over many talanoa sessions and our hope is that our people working in this space grow in confidence when working alongside Pasifika who experience these challenges. Fa’afetai tele lava to the Pasifika Access & Choice services and their staff who have come to Le Va’s trainings across Aotearoa. The wisdom and experience everyone brought to the workshops enriched our talanoa.
To find out more about Le Va’s involvement in the Pasifika Access & Choice space, visit Access & Choice. To find out more about our workshops, email pasifikaprimarymha@leva.co.nz.
“O le tele o sulu, e maua ai figota” is a Samoan proverb meaning, “Through collaboration, the most difficult challenges can be overcome.”
Partnership and collaboration are integral to the success of Le Va, Aotearoa’s leading Pacific primary prevention organisation, which is why Le Va’s Board and senior executives were pleased to sign a memorandum of understanding with the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL) and the International Initiative for Disability Leadership (IIDL) this week.
Chief Executive of Le Va, Denise Kingi-‘Ulu’ave said, “Given the prevailing uncertainty in the world, many have voiced their concerns regarding its potential impact on people’s mental wellbeing. To best address these issues, we believe that strong leadership is crucial, which is why we are eagerly anticipating our collaboration with IIMHL and IIDL.”
Signing the MoU signals Le Va’s expansion into a global arena of leadership, representing Pasifika interests to achieve the best outcomes for Pacific people with disabilities and lived experience of addiction and mental health challenges.
Steve Appleton, the President and Chief Executive of IIMHL/IIDL said of his trip to Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia that it was an opportunity to formalise the collaboration with Le Va, and make progress in working together with Pasifika leaders.
“Through sharing experiences and learning from one another, we can build stronger communities, stronger services, and services that can respond more effectively to the needs of our increasingly diverse populations,” Steve said.
IIMHL and IIDL connect international mental health leaders to help them share innovations and solve problems in the areas of mental health, addiction and disability around the globe.
Nine countries are members of the group, with New Zealand being a founding member of IIMHL and the Netherlands the latest country to join IIDL, alongside Australia, Canada, England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and USA.
Le Va supports Pasifika families and communities to unleash their full potential, bringing more than 15 years of experience to the primary prevention of suicide, violence, mental health and addiction, and strengthening the Pasifika public health workforce.
At least 80 new scholarships will be awarded annually, to enhance the capacity and capability of the addiction and gambling harm workforce. Successful applicants will receive tailored support in the form of financial assistance, cultural support, mentoring and career planning.
Toleafoa Mark Esekielu
Le Va’s Senior Manager for Mental Health and Addiction, Toleafoa Mark Esekielu, said, “Over the last 15 years, we have seen the growing need for addictions and problem gambling support in our communities. Le Va is excited to partner with Te Whatu Ora to support the workforce with scholarships that will make a real difference in outcomes over the coming years.”
While all students committed to working in the AoD and gambling harm fields will be eligible, particular focus will be on priority groups including Māori, Pacific, Asian, youth, rainbow and lived experience communities, as well as the whānau of those affected by these issues.
Le Va, a Pacific primary prevention organisation, has a long history of partnership with Te Whatu Ora, successfully administering the Futures that Work Pasifika mental health and addiction scholarship since 2009.
By addressing workforce shortages and promoting equitable representation, the programme has the potential to contribute to the growth and skills of the AoD and gambling harm workforce, ultimately improving the quality and accessibility of mental health and addiction services in Aotearoa.
Opening dates for the first round of applications will be announced later this year.
The award recognised Le Va’s achievements in developing and supporting the Pasifika mental health and addiction workforce with its Te Whatu Ora funded Futures that Work scholarship programme.
Since 2009, Futures that Work has been life-changing for more than 700 Pasifika students who have gone on to work in a wide range of careers supporting the mental wellbeing and improving health outcomes of our Pasifika communities.
The scholarships go beyond financial support, offering students mentoring and pastoral care, as well as tools to help them reach their study goals.
Le Va Senior Manager for Disability and Public Health, Ben Tameifuna, acknowledged the other nominees in his acceptance speech, saying, “We are honoured to walk alongside you in celebrating the work we all do to create a more inclusive society in Aotearoa.
“Receiving the Impact Award tonight is such an honour and will inspire us to continue this important mahi to ensure our communities get the best possible outcomes.”
Diversity Awards NZ is the most significant awards programme in Aotearoa New Zealand to celebrate excellence in workplace diversity, equity and inclusion.
The awards showcase organisations like Le Va who put people at their heart. The Impact Award goes to a private or non-profit organisation that intentionally works towards building a more equitable workplace and a more inclusive society.
Le Va staff travelled to Pipitea Campus in Pōneke to take part in the university’s second Pasifika Careers Expo. The event showcased Pasifika people in a variety of workforces and organisations and attracted a large audience of current VUW students, local Pasifika high school students and their families.
Le Va, appointed by Te Whatu Ora to provide Aotearoa’s national centre for Pacific mental health and addiction workforce development, welcomed the opportunity to encourage and inspire students to consider a career in the field.
Nicholas Cao, Clinical Lead at Le Va, said, “It’s essential to support the Pasifika mental health and addiction workforce to keep growing, so we can meet the ongoing needs of our communities. Speaking with the young people here at Te Herenga Waka today makes me hopeful for the future of Pasifika mental health in Aotearoa.”
Le Va supports frontline services to enhance the cultural responsiveness of their staff, to better serve our Pasifika communities. This includes equipping the workforce with tools and resources to enhance their practice, deliver innovative and integrated care, and improve outcomes for all New Zealanders.
Samoan is a complex language which means we’re always learning – even those of us who are fluent speakers are constantly deepening our knowledge of Gagana Samoa. – Toleafoa Mark Esekielu
Celebrations at Harakeke House throughout the week began with a welcome and official opening led by Taitu’uga Mataafa-Komiti, Le Va’s project manager for the Atu-Mai violence prevention programme. She gave a short presentation on Samoan history, culture and language and a fun lesson on how to pronounce some Samoan phrases.
Pastor Taeao Napo, project coordinator at Le Va, opened the gathering with lotu (prayer) and pese (hymns). Project coordinator Jim Stretton entertained guests with an energetic demonstration of different styles of Samoan siva (dance).
To end the week, the Le Va team brought together staff from all the Wise Group entities at Harakeke House once again to reflect on the week and enjoy a taumafataga (shared meal). The refreshments, which included koko alaisa, panikeke, and falaoa, were prepared by project coordinator and Samoan chef extraordinaire, John Apelu Crouch.
Toleafoa Mark Esekielu, Le Va’s senior manager for mental health and addiction, said, “It’s important to acknowledge that we are all on a journey in terms of our language. Samoan is a complex language which means we’re always learning – even those of us who are fluent speakers are constantly deepening our knowledge of Gagana Samoa.”
In the 2018 census, 182,721 people identified as being ethnically Samoan, making them the largest group of Pacific peoples living in Aotearoa. After English and Te Reo Māori, Samoan was the third most widely spoken language in New Zealand, with 86,403 people (2 per cent of the population) able to speak it.
Minister for Pacific Peoples Hon Barbara Edmonds launched Samoan Language Week nationally online with a video focusing on this year’s theme, ‘Mitamita i lau gagana, maua’a lou fa’asinomaga’, meaning ‘Be proud of your language and grounded in your identity’.
Massive thanks and appreciation for everything Le Va has done to support me to achieve something for my family and for the Pacific community. – Dwaine Faletanoai
More than 360 guests came together to honour the scholarship recipients and to help Le Va celebrate its 15-year anniversary as an organisation. Le Va is the arm of the Wise Group dedicated to meeting the wellbeing needs of Pacific communities.
In attendance were guests of honour Deputy Prime Minister Hon Carmel Sepuloni and Hon Marama Davidson, with keynote speakers Reverend Uesifili Unasa, Hon Barbara Edmonds and Fuimaono Karl Pulotu-Endemann.
165 students were awarded Le Va’s Futures that Work scholarships for the Pasifika mental health and addiction workforce in Aotearoa, funded by Te Whatu Ora.
Dwaine Faletanoai, a mental health and addiction manager at Te Whatu Ora
Dwaine Faletanoai, a mental health and addiction manager at Te Whatu Ora, said of the scholarships, “I’ve been blessed to receive six or seven now. They’ve basically funded my whole postgrad study. I’m from a small family – just me, my Mum and my sister. We were state home dwellers growing up, but education was important.
Massive thanks and appreciation for everything Le Va has done to support me to achieve something for my family and for the Pacific community. It’s been a long study journey – a lot of challenges, a lot of joys, a lot of close to tears moments.”
Since 2009, Le Va has administered this important investment into the careers of the psychologists, counsellors, social workers, nurses and other practitioners who will help improve health outcomes for Pacific people.
Successful applicants receive mentorship and pastoral care alongside the financial support, as well as tools to help them complete their studies and achieve their goals.
Denise Kingi-‘Ulu’ave, Chief Executive of Le Va, said to the students, “Education is the key that unlocks a world of opportunities. By completing your studies, you equip yourself with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to pursue your dreams.
Embrace the joy of learning, for it broadens your horizons and empowers you to make a positive impact. Your education is an investment in yourself that will open doors, inspire others, and lead you to a fulfilling and successful life of service.”
Nicholas Cao, Clinical Lead at Le Va, spoke about the state and trends of Pasifika mental health and addiction (MHA) service delivery in Aotearoa New Zealand. Driving home the message of health equity and accessibility, and the need to improve the representation of Pasifika within the workforce, Nicholas spoke about our Futures that Work scholarships programme to grow the size and skills of the MHA workforce. Together with Engaging Pasifika, Le Va’s cultural competency programme, health services that are connected through culture and care will improve the quality of services, resulting in better health outcomes for all.
Jim To’o Filiva’a Stretton, Project Coordinator for Le Va, spoke about Niu Wave, a youth specific programme that supports 240 school students with their mental health and wellbeing. In partnership with the Ministry of Pacific Peoples, Le Va delivers a holistic wellbeing programme to students across Aotearoa New zealand who are studying STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics). Our Pasifika youth are being equipped with useful knowledge and skills to better navigate their world.
Jim and Nicholas were also honoured to be on a panel discussion alongside Dr Kiri Prentice, Consultant Psychiatrist, Te Whatu Ora Waitematā and Deputy Clinical Director Māori, Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau, and Grace Ryu, Asian MHA Workstream Lead, Te Whatu Ora Waitematā. Together with other delegates they had the opportunity to discuss ways in which their practice can improve to support delivery of equity in the MHA system.
Being a leader is creating space for others to also thrive and be leaders themselves too. It’s not an individual journey but a collective one where you collaborate with your team and also empower them.
– Le Tautua participant
The year 2022 marked 14 years of Le Va’s Le Tautua emerging leader programme and the first year the programme focused exclusively of youth leadership and growing emerging youth leaders. We received high interest in this year’s programme double the number of applicants from previous years. 26 youth leaders working in youth mental health and addictions, youth work disability, public health, peer support and Pasifika wellbeing, from across Aotearoa New Zealand were invited to attend the two-day programme in Auckland.
Day 1 of Le Tautua Emerging Youth Leadership programme included an opening address from Denise Kingi-Uluave, Le Va CE, and an inspirational Keynote Speech from Arizona Leger who told participants: “The actions you take today, impact the Ancestor you become tomorrow… Be brave, back yourself and go together. Every time you choose to be brave, you are choosing to step into your leadership.”
Le Va’s Niu Wave ran an interactive workshop on Leadership as Pasifika and challenged participants to identify leaders who inspire them. “We follow leaders who resonate with something inside of us. Recall those leaders, write down how they made you feel, why you followed them and how they inspired you. You will need this, because as your rise up into your leadership roles, you will have moments where you will need to draw back from their words, and remember why you are in the positions you are in.”
Our Panel guests: Apollo Taito, Laura Tongalea-Nolan and Pela Hokai shared some rich talanoa about “being confident and owning your space! it’s YOUR story, YOUR narrative. It is our Pasifika values that make us unique.” And finally, our Le Tautua participants described leadership in their own words as being about sacrifice; love and service with the ability to acknowledge your wrongs, having a purpose and a responsibility to be honest, lead from the back with compassion and integrity. All while embracing failure, listening with empathy, and having commitment to the journey ahead.
Following on form an evening of networking, connection, spoken word poetry, song and dance, Day 2 of Le Tautua Emerging Youth Leadership programme opened with a personal address from Dr Elizabeth Mati who shared the highs and the lows of her personal leadership journey and the importance of our voice and how we communicate. To understand our voices and to be secure within ourselves in order to empower others.
Speakers Josiah Tualamali’i and Benji Timu shared an inspirational tale of youth leadership and how they petitioned the government to apologise for the Dawn Raids and enable education in Aotearoa about them.
Closing speakers Aigagalefili Fepulea’i-Tapua’I reminded participants that leadership is embedded within them, is why they are at Le Tautua and that their ancestors have entered the room and they are not alone even when it feels like it at times. Phylesha Brown Acton taught participants that it is okay to close the door when the noise gets loud to rejuvenate and reflect so that they can come back to their purpose and remember their whys!
Le Tautua for the participants provided a space to look after the self, as a leader amongst other emerging young leaders. Quoted from one participant “I’m finding my purpose and my purpose is finding me”.
Our young Pasifika population is the key to our future. At Le Va we want to unleash our Pasifika youth and community’s full potential to achieve the best health and wellbeing outcomes. The Le Tautua Leadership programme can help us do this.
In recognition for Samoan language week, “Fa’aauau le folauga I le va’a o tautai” -Continue to voyage with competent wayfinders of the ocean, the challenge that was laid down to our Pasifika leaders was to be the wayfinders but don’t just be competent, be exceptional. Saili le Malo!
#youthleadership #leadership #letautua2022 #leva #Leadingintimesofsignificantchange
“Oh man, it was such a relief,” says Tu’uta Maue of the moment he received confirmation he had been awarded a Futures that Work scholarship,
“Telling my wife, sharing the news with my family, I was so over the moon,” says Tu’uta, who is of Tongan descent from the villages of Tokomololo and ‘Ofu, Vavau. Tu’uta also has lineage back to the village of Fasitootai in Samoa. “I have family responsibilities, a mortgage, young kids… knowing I would receive financial help – that alleviated a lot of stress. It really impacted positively on my family.”
Tu’uta is in his second year of a Bachelor of Nursing Studies at the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT), funded in part by the Le Va Futures that Work scholarship and mentoring programme. A dedicated family man, Tu’uta is studying – and working – full-time. “This journey isn’t an individual one, it’s been a real collective journey for me and my family,” Tu’uta says.
A space in which to give back
It was family that inspired Tu’uta to choose a career dedicated to helping Pasifika people. When he was called to support his father through ill health, Tu’uta felt passionately about giving back to his community.
Building on more than a decade of experience working at the Mason Clinic, a dedicated service in Tamaki Makaurau providing Forensic Mental Health Services, Tu’uta enrolled at MIT. And the insight he has gained into the health sector to date, has reinforced Tu’uta’s desire to support Pasifika mental health and addiction.
“Forensic mental health is the one for me,” Tu’uta says. “It’s my bread and butter, it’s what I’ve been gifted with. Helping people and families.”
Mentoring makes a difference
Tu’uta may have found his calling, but he’s still a minority in forensic mental health services, something he hopes will change in the coming years. “Community services have a lot more of our people, but in forensic mental health, there is still a real need for Pasifika in this space,” he says.
Tu’uta has been supported through his studies, not just by his family, work colleagues and his manager, but by the Le Va team and the Futures that Work mentoring programme. Monthly mentoring workshops enabled Tu’uta to interact with other Futures that Work programme recipients, sharing experiences and cultural narratives he’s able to take back to his own community.
“A lot of good stuff comes out of the networking opportunities that Le Va provides,” Tu’uta says. “There have been topics we’ve discussed that have really stayed with me. I’ve taken them to work in the evenings and shared them with my colleagues. It’s a really encouraging environment, being exposed to people who are all seeking higher learning.
“And it’s awesome to see that even though Pasifika are a minority, one day some of those people that were in the same room I am, will be out there making a real difference,” he says.
The benefit of knowledge and education
Having experienced the benefits of Le Va’s Futures that Work programme, Tu’uta is quick to encourage others to spend the time going through the application.
“If someone is thinking of applying, I’d first say to them, don’t be shy or feel ashamed about actively seeking the financial assistance that is on offer.”
“And secondly, if they’re stuck on that thought, I’d ask them, why wouldn’t you apply? There’s no harm in trying. If it’s on offer and you’re successful, you’ll be grateful for it, and so many people will benefit from your application.”
Tu’uta retells the story of a friend he encouraged to apply to the programme. “I kept telling the old mate to apply. We’d be kicking him up the backside saying he just had to do it. And when he heard he’d been successful in getting on the programme, man there were some tears.”
“Through knowledge and education we’re better equipped to deal with and educate our people. Sit down for 30minutes and complete that application form. Do it for your family, your community, your church… do it for our people.”
Applications for the 2022 Le Va Futures that Work scholarship and mentoring programme are now open. Apply at https://www.leva.co.nz/scholarships-funding/futures-that-work-scholarship/
Le Va is part of the Wise Group. Copyright ©2025
