Mātauranga focus: EIT welcomes Layelin Stewart as new executive director for Māori

Eastern Institute of Technology’s new Pouarahi Māori (executive director Māori) Layelin Stewart with wife Stella. Photo / EIT

Eastern Institute of Technology’s new Pouarahi Māori (executive director Māori) says he’s pleased to be coming back to his East Coast roots and wants to bring his passion for mātauranga Māori to the role.

Layelin Stewart (Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Maniapoto) was welcomed to EIT at a pōwhiri on the Hawke’s Bay campus on Monday.

Since April last year, he had been one of eight national Ako directors at Te Pūkenga responsible for mātauranga Māori.

“One of the really standout things for me when considering my application to the role was how vibrant the mātauranga Māori community is over there on the East Coast and Hawke’s Bay,” he said.

“I think it’s a role of service to supporting and promoting success for Māori students and staff, as well as navigating the way in which EIT might support iwi aspirations.”

Stewart said a big part of his role would be focused on Te Tiriti.

“It is also about how I serve and support my fellow executive staff members, colleagues, and our broader EIT staff collectives, in their understanding of tikanga Māori and how mātauranga Māori or Māori ways of being, doing and knowing might serve as a bridge towards nationhood, albeit at the EIT local level.”

The 45-year-old came to Te Pūkenga as a senior Māori adviser in the office of the deputy chief executive of academic delivery innovation.

Before that, he was involved in Māori education for more than 20 years and worked as a radio broadcaster for iwi radio station Te Reo Irirangi o Maniapoto from 2006-09.

His most recent role before Te Pūkenga was as deputy principal at Te Wharekura o Ngā Purapura o te Aroha in Te Awamutu from 2017 to October 2021.

Stewart’s whakapapa links to Te Kūiti, Ruatoki and Gisborne. He attended Gisborne Boys’ High before finishing his last year at Te Awamutu College.

EIT’s executive director Kieran Hewitson said Stewart’s expertise would help advance the organisation’s relationships with Tiriti partners help deliver better outcomes for Māori.

“We are pleased to have Layelin join the executive team,” she said.