John Blyth
Company: Beca
Job title: Māori Business Advisory Lead
John Blyth
Whakapapa pepeha
Ngā mihi ngā Rangatira o ACE, tēnei te mihi maioha i a koutou.
Kā Uri o Te Atihaunui-a- Pāpārangi, Ngati Kahungungu, Ngāpuhi, ko Williams o Paihia hoki.
Ko He Tipu Pakahi o Beca Ltd a Motu te mahi.
Ko John tōku ingoa.
About John
From Te Ati Haunui-a-Pāpārangi and Pakeha descent, I have over 20 years of experience in leadership roles in both local government and the private sector.
Strategic vision for ACE New Zealand
Acknowledging the role and mana that ACE New Zealand holds on behalf of the engineers of Aotearoa and the role that engineers play to shape and support the outcomes of communities, I have a vision that ACE tilts towards drawing together the two world views underpinned and framed up in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
We have an amazing opportunity in Aotearoa to find a space between Te Ao Māori and He Tangata o te Tiriti (non-Māori) where both worlds come together to express joint outcomes, support a renewed understanding of working together and finding a unique leadership spot on the world stage where two cultures recognise the past and uphold the mana of the past with a joint way forward for everyone.
ACE has a true opportunity to provide pragmatic and workable leadership in these times of change.
Strengths
I have 10 years of experience at Beca that has afforded me a very unique opportunity to bring a Māori voice to engineering. Whilst I’m not an engineer myself I am told I walk the ground between Te Ao Māori and Te Ao Pakeha in a very respectful and thoughtful way with a touch of humour and pragmatism that everyone can connect to.
What does diversity and inclusion mean to you?
To me, this means drawing a line in the sand on what is important and what are absolutes in terms of "do's and don’ts" and it’s a people first, manaaki-lead concept of you before me. Any of the myriad topics in this very complex space represent a place for us all to make a start in our understanding, whether that be a gender challenge, lifestyle or a culturally-based one they all help us get to the start line on a journey of understanding one another as a singular, but diverse, working community.