Cheyenne Heke

2024 Cohort

Pronouns: she/her

Cheyenne is actively advocating for the fair and equitable access to holistic well-being for Māori as Indigenous people.

Cheyenne descends from the iwi of Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Porou, and lives in Whangarei, Aotearoa. She holds regional and national roles as an advisor, trustee and secretary across the public, community and not-for-profit sector.

Cheyenne holds a Bachelor of Applied Management with a major in Māori Enterprise and is passionate about enabling and advocating for kaupapa Māori-led initiatives, hapū rangatiratanga and mana motuhake (self-determination).

She strongly believes that local people know what is best for themselves, and actively promotes central enablement as a regionally supported and local-led way of working.

She has worked as the National Coordinator for the fund Oranga Marae and currently works part-time as an Advisor across Tai Tokerau, predominantly working with and for marae, supporting marae-led initiatives, repairs and rebuilds. She is also a Trustee for Hui E! Aotearoa, which is purposed with driving equitable systems change for communities, hapū and iwi – or tangata whenua (the people of the land).

“I aspire to explore climate change and marae preparedness. Additionally, to address the Crown’s obligation of protection under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”

Social change work

Cheyenne specialises in advisory and funding services for marae, hapū, iwi and communities across the Tai Tokerau (Northland) region. Cheyenne is intimately involved in the re-build of Miria Marae, which involves relocation due to climate change and other environmental impacts.