Rākau Tautoko - Tara Moala

Our featured member organisation for June 2021 is Rākau Tautoko. The links between Rākau Tautoko and the HEART Movement are longstanding and woven deeply. The best relationships between organisations are held by the people, which is exactly the case here. 

Rākau Tautoko works alongside communities to build engagement and empowerment and is led by Tara Moala - one of our most active Change Agents who has been with us since our inception. Tara is sister to Ren, our Leader for Change, and the Rākau Tautoko collective comprises of 15 practitioners, who are mostly residents in our community - many of whom are Change Agents too! 

Rākau Tautoko works on community-related projects, community research and development advice, facilitation, and leadership. The collective is made up of skilled, creative and like-minded practitioners who enjoy working together and take pride in doing high-quality community work. 

Change Agents who are also Rākau Tautoko practitioners are: Tara Moala, Tyrone Tangata-Makiri, Jasmine Hope, Candace Weir and Ren Joe. Past practitioners who are Change Agents include: Theresa Holmes, Melefatai Palavi and Dickie Humphries. This shows how deeply woven the connections between the two organisations are, these varied connections enabling an incredible level of collaboration.

Managing Director Tara says, "The HEART Movement enables us to work collaboratively in the Tāmaki community on a deeper level. We love the Change Agents and the initiatives that the HEART Movement makes happen around our community."


The HEART Movement and Rākau Tautoko have a shared interest in strengthening community members to be the best tuakana they can be. Rākau Tautoko prides itself on creating supportive opportunities for community practitioners to develop their knowledge and skills, apply their philosophy and exercise appropriate accountabilities. 

Tyrone is one of our wonderful Change Agents who does work all over the community including with Rākau Tautoko and says, “As a business owner, being able to commit to your business can be hard especially in your early years when you're barely making any money. Thanks to Rākau Tautoko, I’ve been able to work on opportunities that match my skill set and passion while still being able to run my business and survive.”

To learn more or to make contact, check out Rākau Tautoko on their website. We look forward to continuing collaboration with Rākau Tautoko and all of their wonderful practitioners... And perhaps finding some more Change Agents as their team grows...