This year’s theme for ‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani – Cook Islands Language Week is ‘Ātuitui’ia au ki te Oneone o tōku ‘Ui Tupuna, which means, connect me to the soil of my ancestors.
As family is at the heart of all that we do at ECG, to celebrate Cook Islands language week, we opened up a discussion with our team member with Cook Island Heritage and her father surrounding the value of the Pacific Workforce and ECG’s work to maximise this potential. The Estall Family is from Aorangi Village Rarotonga.
ECG team member Antonia (Research and Project support) spoke to her father, Mark Estall, about his experience as an entrepreneur within the Pacific workforce and how it has changed; “Throughout my career, I have noticed an evolution in the way the Pacific workforce and economy has been perceived. Having experienced a time where it was not looked upon as a strength, it has been great to see the unique differences of the Pacific way embraced within organizations.”
ECG specialises in helping organisations develop their understanding of the Pacific economy and the maximising the value of the workforce. Within our team we aim to encourage learning as a crucial element of developing courageous leadership .
Antonia has found that “Being able to embrace both my Cook Island and Irish identity in the workplace has allowed me to use my unique cultural understanding to inform my work in research across a range of projects. Creating an open cultural environment like at ECG has also allowed me to develop my understanding of my colleagues and clients Pacific cultures in a warm environment.”.
Growing up in an entrepreneurial family meant there was always a lot of business discussion around the dinner table; two pieces of advice from her father that Antonia brings into her work are:
Embrace collaboration and listen to different perspectives; incorporating a diverse range of skills and ideas into the project is crucial for innovation
Create a sustainable work-life balance. To do your best work long-term, you need to make sure you plan plenty of downtime activities
