<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:12px"><em>Delegates at the International indigenous Evaluation Conference gather outside the venue, Te Papaiouru Marae, Ohinemutu, Rotorua.</em></span></p>

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<p>Dr Amohia Boulton participated in the first ever international evaluation conference for Indigenous evaluators during February 2019. Hosted and organised by M&#257; te Rae M&#257;ori Evaluation Association, the conference was held at the beautiful Ohinemutu Marae on the shores of Lake Rotorua.</p>

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<p>There were six conference themes:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Mana T&#257;iao: Our Environment;</li>
	<li>Mana Motuhake: Our Language and Culture;</li>
	<li>Mana Mokopuna: Our Future Generations;</li>
	<li>Mana Ora: Our Wellbeing;</li>
	<li>Traditional Knowledge; and</li>
	<li>Claiming the Space.</li>
</ul>

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<p>Whakauae sponsored several emerging evaluators supporting them to take part in the conference. We also sponsored&nbsp; one of the keynote speakers, Richard Weston, the CEO of the Healing Foundation of Australia. Conference presenters and delegates came from as far afield as Canada, the United States, Cameroon (Western Africa) and Australia.</p>

<p>Amohia reports that the conference was&nbsp; a celebration of Indigenous evaluation in its many forms as well as a place where the issues and concerns of Indigenous evaluators could be explored safely and without judgement. The conference also provided a fantastic networking opportunity with many very experienced and highly regarded Maori evaluators mixing with those newer to the field.&nbsp; Representatives from both the Board of the Australian Evaluation Society (AES) and EvalIndigenous (a Voluntary Organisation for Professional Evaluation) were warmly welcomed by the hosts. The representatives appreciated the opportunity to take part in this ground-breaking Indigenous evaluation conference.</p>

<p>A highlight of the conference was the live streaming of presentations on Facebook, allowing those from NZ and overseas who could not be physically present to nevertheless benefit from the presentations.</p>

<p>While it has not been determined where the next conference will be held, colleagues from Hawai&rsquo;i noted that they would consider hosting such an event in the future. Congratulations to the Aotearoa New Zealand organising committee for all their hard work making this such a memorable event.</p>
