CEWH seeking a Kaihautū: a wāhine Māori leadership role in ending women’s homelessness

Of the 57,000 women experiencing severe housing deprivation in Aotearoa, more than one third are wāhine Māori. 

When we get asked why this is the case at the Coalition to End Women's Homelessness, we have the same answer every time: colonisation. We are clear that breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi are a causal factor in the poverty and exclusion that many wāhine Māori face.

We also have a commitment in our organisational strategy to "do, not just say". 

And, as a 'by women, for women' organisation, we stand strong in our advocacy for women. But as a majority Pākehā team, we know we can do more and better for wāhine Māori by living our commitments to representation and Te Tiriti. 

We are therefore excited to announce we are looking for a Kaihautū - a wāhine Māori leader who will work alongside our current Project Director as a partner in the next stage of the Coalition to End Women's Homelessness development.  We are looking for someone with policy nous, who is ideally able to get stuck into some of the detail of our policy and advocacy positions, and has a working knowledge of the housing and social services sectors. Existing relationships in housing (government, community, or iwi and Māori housing) would help a candidate stand out and hit the ground running. Most of all, we are looking for someone who is willing to partner with our existing team in what is a new way of working, and be a staunch advocate for wāhine experiencing homelessness. 

This is a part-time, fixed term role until April 2026 (with opportunity for extension depending on funding) and we are able to negotiate whether this is a permanent part-time contract or a contracting arrangement depending on the candidate. 

Further information of expectations is covered in our job description. 

(Our job description is in te reo Māori and English. It is not certified as Easy Read, but we have done our best to ensure it is parsable by screen readers for those who are visually impaired. If any enhancements are necessary, just get in touch with the team.) 

Download the job description here.