Potaua Biasiny-Tule (Ngāti Whakue, Ngāti Pikiao, Tūhoe, Te Whānau-Apanui) is a thought leader, digital tech entrepreneur and a storyteller.
Potaua is a thought leader, an award-winning digital entrepreneur, and creative technologist passionate about empowering Indigenous communities through innovation. Over the past two decades, he has founded and led multiple ventures across the tech, education, and creative industries, building pathways that connect Māori youth to future-focused careers.
In 2014, he cofounded Digital Natives Academy (DNA), along with his wife Nikolasa. As the founder and CEO of Native Industries, Potaua continues to drive innovation through kaupapa Māori design, digital storytelling, and creative technology projects for iwi, hapū, and community organisations.
Potaua’s governance experience spans community, national, and international arenas. He is an elected representative on Te Tatau o Te Arawa (Rotorua Lakes Council), a Trustee for Te Takinga Marae, a Board Member at InternetNZ, and Te Komiti Whakauru Māori (former Chair), guiding strategic engagement between Māori and the internet sector. He also served on the Ministerial Advisory Group for Digital Economy and Digital Inclusion, contributing to national policy development on equitable access to technology, and is currently part of UNESCO’s High-Level Expert Group on AI Governance and Ecosystem-Level Transformation.
Through all of his work, whether founding organisations, sitting on boards, or developing digital pathways, Potaua is guided by principles of tino rangatiratanga, manaaki, and auahatanga, ensuring Māori values remain central in the digital future of Aotearoa.
Te Mauri Kingi (Te Arawa, Tūhoe, Tainui) is a rangatahi leader, animator, and creative innovator deeply grounded in his whakapapa.
Guided by his late pāpā, Mauriora Kingi, Te Mauri was raised with a strong understanding of Te Arawa tikanga, kawa, reo and leadership values that continue to shape his mahi today.
A graduate of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Koutū and Animation College, Te Mauri was a founding member of 4CompanyB Ltd, a Rotorua-based collective of Māori animators, content creators, storytellers, and IT innovators committed to advancing Māori narratives through creative technology.
Te Mauri has extended his leadership through service on multiple boards within Te Arawa, including his past role as a rangatahi representative on the Te Arawa Partnership Board, which worked alongside the Rotorua Lakes Council to strengthen iwi-community relationships and ensure meaningful youth representation in local decision-making. He most recently served as a member of the Kāhui Māori Advisory Group for the Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge, where he contributed to embedding Vision Mātauranga and Te Ao Māori principles into national science and innovation strategies.
An advocate for te reo Māori and a dedicated performer with Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao Kapa Haka, Te Mauri’s passion for animation is driven by a commitment to create opportunities for rangatahi to express themselves through digital and creative mediums, ensuring Māori voices, values, and visual storytelling continue to thrive in the future.
Nikolasa Biasiny-Tule (Puerto Rican, Taíno, Dutch, Ashkenazi) is a strategic systems designer, digital equity advocate, and cross-cultural innovator.
Nikolasa Biasiny-Tule is a strategic systems designer and social innovator whose work sits at the intersection of education, technology, youth development, and systems change. She is the cofounder and current CEO of Digital Natives Academy (DNA), Aotearoa’s first kaupapa Māori tech academy, and Native Tech, an NZQA-accredited tertiary education organisation and social enterprise focused on digital and creative tech pathways.
With over 20 years of experience working alongside Māori communities, Nikolasa has designed nationally recognised models that blend cultural identity, digital innovation, and collective wellbeing. Together with Potaua she helped to establish digital hubs in Murupara, Te Wairoa, New Plymouth, Christchurch and Te Waimana, each still in operation today.
Her expertise spans governance, programme design, policy, and ethical tech development. She currently serves on the board of the NZ Esports Federation. Internationally, she has contributed to AI ethics and Māori data justice research through the Alan Turing Institute and the ICANN grants programme, helping embed Indigenous perspectives into global conversations on tech and governance.
Nikolasa holds a Master of Social Science with First Class Honours in Public Policy and Administration from Waikato University, as well as postgraduate qualifications in Māori and Pacific Development and eEducation. She was instrumental in establishing the online Māori and Pacific Development undergraduate programme where she lectured in the School of Māori & Pacific Development for 5 years.
Chanz Mikaere (Te Arawa, Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngai Te Rangi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Pahauwera) is an activist, creator, artist and PhD candidate.
Bio coming soon
