Lil Anderson (Te Rarawa and Ngāpuhi) is the Tumu Whakarae (Chief Executive) of the Office for Māori Crown Relations – Te Arawhiti (Te Arawhiti). She is originally from the small community of Panguru in the far north of New Zealand.

Te Arawhiti is a departmental agency that reports to the Minister for Māori Crown Relations – Te Arawhiti, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and the Minister responsible for the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act.

Te Arawhiti was created to consolidate a range of distinct but related government functions that support the journey of the Māori Crown partnership and help the Crown build on the sense of renewal in Māori Crown relations established through the Treaty settlement process.

Lil has more than 25 years’ experience spanning the public service and wider state sector. Authentic leadership, vision and strategy, problem solving and driving results have been key features of her career. She is the public sector lead on Maori-Crown relations.

In 2020 Lil was redeployed for six months to the New Zealand COVID-19 All of Government Operational Command Centre to lead a cross-Government programme called ‘Caring for our Communities’ aimed at supporting the most vulnerable groups within our communities across Aotearoa New Zealand through COVID-19 and beyond into recovery.