However, Ms Puketapu still keeps her iwi connections strong through work with Ngati Porou.
“I get back to Gisborne on a regular basis. Last month I visited Maunga Hikurangi to hear our Ngati Porou story from Monty Manuel. It was a moving experience,” she says.
“I’m glad to be able to work for the benefit of my iwi and to regularly connect back to Tairawhiti.”
She was born in Napier but lived in Gisborne for some years as a child, attending Mangapapa Primary School. The family lived in Clifford Street, before moving to Te Puke where her parents started a kiwifruit orchard.
She now lives in Auckland and Northland and commutes between the two.
Ms Puketapu said she would love to see more Maori and Ngati Porou in high performance sport environments given her involvement with the NZ Olympic Committee.
“There are lots of opportunities for those who excel in sport if they have the aspiration, the focus and determination,” she said.
“Maori are naturally talented athletes, and Ngati Porou has role models like Olympian Lisa Carrington and Black Cap Trent Boult in high performance sports I’m involved in.”
She said she would love to go to the Olympics in Japan next year, and if that happened, her favourite event to watch would be the final of the 100m running relay.
“I’ve never seen track and field. If I can see that final I would be very happy.
“If I can go, I’ll go,” she said.
She had a taste of international level sport last year when she went to the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games.
Ms Puketapu used to work with America’s Cup sailing teams, Oracle (US) and British team, Origin, as their chief financial officer but finished that in 2009.
Comparing sailing with the Olympics 100m dash, she said sailing was a much more difficult spectator sport.
On the recent Cricket World Cup, Ms Puketapu said it was “a pretty incredible final”.
“It was heartbreaking and an incredibly proud moment at the same time.”
Asked how this success could trickle down to the country’s smaller communities, she said NZ Cricket was”forever having conversations about community cricket and grassroots cricket”.
“I think one of the most exciting things coming up for cricket is that New Zealand is hosting the 2021 Women’s Cricket World Cup.
“It’s a big event for cricket. It’s a big event for women’s sport. I am very excited for it.”
Ms Puketapu said she was also excited that NZ Cricket had named its first Maori Secondary Schools boys’ team in 2019.
“This is an opportunity not only for Maori youth to stand out in the sport but also for cricket to connect more with Maori. Hopefully we will soon see a Maori girls team.”
At school, Ms Puketapu wasn’t given the opportunity to play cricket. She said she thinks she would’ve been quite good at it had she had the chance.
“Being involved in sport management and governance has given me an insight into what makes individuals excel — focus, determination, perseverance and lots of hard work.
“These same behaviours were instilled in me and I apply them in my governance roles and in my work at Ngati Porou. I also see a lot of these traits in many of my Ngati Porou colleagues.
As a board member of Napier Port, she was involved in the recent listing of the port on the New Zealand Stock Exchange.
“It went from being fully council-owned to a publicly-listed organisation.”
She said the major shareholder was still the council, but priority listings/shares were given to manawhenua (people of the land) of Hawke’s Bay.
Ms Puketapu said it was a good opportunity for locals to participate in their own infrastructure.
