Tēnā koutou katoa,

We wanted to share this kōrero with our membership as we celebrate our own Kāhui Whetū, Dr Diane Menzies (Di) ONZM.

Di has received the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award, landscape architecture’s highest international honour. She is the first Indigenous recipient, the first from Oceania and the fifth woman to receive the award.

Of Rongowhakaata and Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Di’s career spans more than five decades of leadership, teaching, research and advocacy. Her work has advanced Indigenous perspectives, cultural values, and environmental responsibility within landscape architecture. In 2018, she became the first wahine to receive Kāhui Whetū status from Ngā Aho Māori Design Professionals recognising her contribution to Māori and Pasifika design.

In her acceptance speech, Di shared a whakataukī gifted by Rongowhakaata:
“Te Kotahi a Turahiri, ka ripo ana i te moana: A single child who causes the ocean to ripple.”

She connected this to the encouragement she gives the students she teaches and researches alongside: “be the one who causes the ocean to ripple”.

E mihi nui ana ki a koe, e Di, mō tō mahi rangatira. He tohu whakahirahira tēnei mōu, mō Ngā Aho, mō Aotearoa, me te ao Māori.

Mauri ora

Read the New Zealand Herald Article Here