Stacey Whitiora has been appointed Chief Indigenous Innovation and Partnerships Officer (CIIPO).

Stacey Whitiora (Ngāti Mahuta ki te Hauāuru; Waikato; Tainui Waka, Kuki Airani) has led the Māori Strategy, Partnerships and Enterprise team at Plant & Food Research since 2017, the first leadership team appointment specifically focused on building relationships with iwi Māori communities and Māori business entities. Prior to this she spent 17 years at MPI in a range of positions, including regional economic development, Māori agribusiness, post fisheries settlement  and surveillance, and Te Tiriti expansion. She also holds governance positions in the forestry and seafood sectors, and bioprotection.

During her time at Plant & Food Research, Stacey championed embedding Te Tiriti o Waitangi into organisational practice through the development and implementation of TONO – a 10-year strategy to embed Te Ao Māori into organisational culture, improve staff cultural competence, and develop strong two-way partnerships with Māori. This work received the 2023 NZ Diversity Awards Leadership award, recognising system influence and co-leadership. Related work, developing the organisation’s Te Rito Pathways programme for rangatahi developing their science careers, was recognised at the same awards.