Reflecting on two years of advocating for Ngā Peka o Toi October 12th, 2023 Although the Workforce Development Councils were established on 4 October 2021, our first five kaimahi didn’t officially start until the week after, marking the month of October a time for Toi Mai to reflect on the important mahi that we continue to do for our industries and celebrate how far we have come. For two years, Toi Mai and the other workforce development councils have been changing the landscape of vocational education and training in Aotearoa, providing bespoke advocacy for our sectors through qualifications support and industry engagement. Check out some of the highlights from the past two years of Toi Mai: Toi Mai held its first noho marae at Te Rau Karamu Marae in May 2023, coming together as an organisation and immersing ourselves in tikanga Māori. JJ Carberry led an incredible workshop on te Tiriti o Waitangi and how to incorporate it into our mahi. With NZTech, we developed and circulated the Digital Technology skills survey, which will help inform NZTech’s Digital Skills report and our Toi Whānui (enabling technologies) workforce development plan. The Baseline Engagement and Data (BED) report was the first of four COVID-19 response projects funded by the Tertiary Education Commission. Through the BED report, our sectors were redefined under a holistic te ao Māori lens and brought together as Ngā Peka o Toi. The second COVID-19 response project was the Embracing Digital Transformation (EDT) report, which covered the new digital delivery models the creative and recreation sectors of Aotearoa had to adopt due to the pandemic. Built in collaboration with Assurity Consulting, Te Wao Nui o Toi served as the third COVID-19 Response project and our first sector-specific workforce development plan. It highlighted the shortage of below-the-line workers in Toi Pāho (the screen and broadcast sector) with actionable recommendations for government and industry, and it kicked off our expansive narrative of a thriving ecosystem. Describing research undertaken by Massey University, the Createch reports outline barrers facing wāhine, Māori and Pacific peoples from entering the creative technology sectors. The Toi Pāho workforce development plan, Te Wao Nui o Toi, was awarded the prestigious Good Design Award Gold Winner Accolade in the Design Research category in recognition for outstanding design and innovation at Australia’s International Good Design Awards! Pictured are Sanjiv Menon and Simon Rycroft from Assurity Consulting, Jeannette Troon and Dr Claire Robinson from Toi Mai. Stemming from the Embracing Digital Transformation (EDT) report, we held two ‘The Digital Conversation’ events in Ōtautahi and Te Whanganui-a-Tara, bringing together inspiring groups of creatives to share their stories and challenges in adapting to the lockdowns to local creatives. We hosted three Creatives Talanoa events in Ōtahuhu, Porirua and Ōtautahi, gaining invaluable insights from Pacific creatives from across the motu. Many creatives and leaders from the Pacific communities attended from all over the motu. The Creatives Talanoa were great opportunities to be part of some rich kōrero which helped Toi Mai develop a strong understanding of Pacific peoples' perspectives across our creative industries. The Tech Week 2023 event, Working in the Cloud, was a collaboration between a number of tech initiatives, the Wellington City Council and Toi Mai. It raised awareness of technology career opportunities to over 800 high school students. In August 2023, Toi Mai was recognised as one of the winners at the Diversity Awards as the 2023 recipient of Ngā Āhuatanga o Te Tiriti Tohu for our commitment to diversity and incorporating principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi in all that we do. We hosted two Tech Talanoa events in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Tāmaki Makaurau, getting an amazing glimpse into ways we can help generate more tech opportunities for Pacific workers and employers. Many Pacific tech sector workers contributed some insightful whakaaro on their relationship with the sector and how we can affect change. And last – but certainly not least – over the past two years, we have developed or reviewed 165 qualifications and 1047 unit standards, including 39 exercise and 70 hairdressing standards. Over 400 schools across Aotearoa report Toi Mai standards! Previous Next