Te Ao Kapa is the newly appointed CEO at Te Kaha O Te Rangatahi Indigenous Youth Hub, South Auckland, New Zealand.

Te Kaha o Te Rangatahi supports and empowers young people to become confident ‘change agents’ within their families and communities. The hub has been operating for 30 years and was originally set up to support young teen mums in South Auckland. For the past 7 years the focus has been on Youth Health, Youth Wellness, Youth Development, Youth Education and Youth Employment.

Te Ao commenced working at Te Kaha o Te Rangatahi 12 years ago, straight out of school and supported the delivery of programs. Since 2019 Te Ao has been the General Manager responsible for the delivery of all rangatahi (youth) services.

In 2016 #Talk2Me was established, to create increased awareness amongst young people about suicide prevention using performing arts – which includes dance, singing, cultural elements and spoken word as the vehicle. Funding was provided by local and central government agencies.

Since 2019 a new #Matapaki (discussion) program incorporating a Māori Model of Health, to get the suicide prevention message across to age 11-18 year old students, has been delivered in 12 Kura Kaupapa (total immersion Māori) schools across the Auckland region. After seven successful programs and seasonal perfomances, over 2,000 young people have completed the program.

The objective is for the program to be delivered in all schools to support young potential leaders to grow, develop and prosper. The program is assessed by local and central health and funding government agencies

Te Ao Iwi affliations are Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Wai, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti and Ngati Pōrou.