Ben Tairea, is Cook Island Māori heritage from the small Polynesian Island of Mauke and the people of Ngati Nurau.
Ben was born and raised along the Whanganui river in Aotearoa where he developed his passion for leveraging technology and business for indigenous community development. Ben eventually co-founded Āhau, a tribal management and cultural archiving platform and a listed tool in the Earth Defenders Toolkit, in 2018 and has since been supporting indigenous communities to develop their capability and access to digital tools.
Ben has recently joined the Awana Digital team in late 2022 as the Earth Defenders Toolkit Community Steward, and is looking forward to contributing to the development of the Earth Defenders Toolkit community and resources.
Ben is also a member of the Digital Identity New Zealand Executive Council, Advisory Board Member for Veracity Labs Aotearoa and Tairea Anau Village Council.
