Learning te reo Māori fosters inclusivity
Jon Gulbransen, Senior Client Executive - Financial Services, Microsoft Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), tells us how a te reo Māori language course is inspiring cultural connections across Microsoft.
“I joined the Indigenous at Microsoft New Zealand Employee Resource Group to support Māori and Pasifika be more present and involved in the technology industry. Though I’m not Indigenous, growing up in Rotorua’s diverse community shaped me, and after 20 years away, I missed that cultural diversity and connection.
The Māori culture featured in my youth, where I spent time in a marae (traditional meeting places) and experienced traditional Māori ways, including the connection to the people and the land. My aim with the te reo Māori language course is to try and bring some of that diversity into the workplace. It’s important we create an environment that welcomes everyone, regardless of their background.
Learning te reo Māori fosters a deeper understanding of Māori culture and tradition. Our course, delivered with Cultureflow®, a specialist te reo Māori language organisation, teaches basics like greetings, farewells, counting, and email etiquette. It also covers cultural concepts such as whānau, which means ancestral ties, connection to land, marae, these are traditional meeting places, and historical customs. Initially launched in New Zealand, the 12-lesson plan is now available more broadly across all of Microsoft, building confidence for everyday conversations.
By November 2024, 70 employees worldwide completed Cultureflow’s® te reo Māori course, with a 90% completion rate. While most participants are New Zealanders, we’ve welcomed learners from Australia, the US, and Europe. Regularly hearing phrases like kia ora and kei te pēhea koe in the office shows our efforts to create a more inclusive workplace are succeeding. The more te reo Māori is used, the more natural it becomes.
Fluency isn’t the goal of the six-week course; it focuses on respectful use of greetings, farewells, and place names. Learning Māori customs, like marae welcome ceremonies, helps us better understand Māori perspectives. Those interested can pursue further learning independently.
Participants have described the course to me as challenging but rewarding. We all understand inclusivity is an ongoing journey. This course is one small step in that journey, alongside other activities like the marae stay we do here in the New Zealand office, and our partnership with organisations like TupuToa. We hope these initiatives together foster an environment of awareness, inclusivity and belonging.
It’s exciting to see international Indigenous Employee Resource Groups showing an interest in replicating initiatives like this to connect with their local Indigenous groups. I’m proud our New Zealand Microsoft office can be a leading light in fostering multicultural communities at work.
I see this as an opportunity to facilitate dialogue between Māori and non-Māori employees and create a welcoming environment. We need to continue to build those connections here in New Zealand.
Personally, it reconnects me with fond memories of great cultural experiences and lifelong friendships from my upbringing.”
Sarah Reo, CEO of Cultureflow® highlights her vision for te reo Māori: "We've been celebrating Te Reo and Tikanga Māori at Cultureflow for 24 years and it's been an absolute pleasure working with the Microsoft whānau this year. Our mission is to honour the Māori Language by normalising the everyday use of te reo Māori. We want everyone to know it's cool to speak it!"