Living in Two Worlds

Join us for a compelling session hosted by Lincoln University's Centre of Excellence in Transformative Agribusiness, where two thought-provoking speakers will explore what it means to live and lead in “two worlds.” Dr Mohini Vidwans will share her work on Sir Hēnare Ngata, Aotearoa New Zealand’s first Māori Public Accountant, who pioneered a bicultural approach by blending Māori values with Anglocentric accounting to support Māori aspirations in land development and business. Dr Ellie Norris will delve into recent research on intergenerational responsibility in Māori communities and its relevance to climate change, revealing the tensions and possibilities that arise when Indigenous worldviews intersect with Western corporate norms. Together, these presentations will challenge conventional thinking around governance, accountability and the future of agribusiness in Aotearoa.

Dr Mohini Vidwans

Dr Mohini Vidwans is the Associate Dean-Academic in the Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce at Lincoln university. She is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management. The underlying theme of Mohini’s research is challenging discrimination based on gender and race. Her work helps identify the crafting strategies used by minoritised trailblazers in the accounting profession.

Mohini will present her recently published paper with Ros Whiting and Carolyn Fowler on Sir Hēnare Ngata, the first Māori Public Accountant in Aotearoa New Zealand. Sir Hēnare Ngata combined Māori culture, Māori practices and beliefs with the tools of Anglocentric accounting to support Māori in navigating land development, business financial requirements and policies and programmes. His bicultural approach combining the holistic Māori worldview and Anglocentric accounting provides rich insights for those involved in social and environmental accounting and governance reporting.

Dr Ellie Norris

Dr Ellie Norris is a Lecturer in Accounting at the UC Business School, with more than 13 years' professional experience in finance roles in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Ellie's research publications highlight the unique governance and accountability contexts of these Indigenous organisations, their experiences of accounting and corporate reporting, and how they are finding novel ways to tell their stories.

Dr Ellie Norris will share insights from recent research with Dr Matt Scobie (Ngāi Tahu) and Holly Wilson, exploring how Māori understandings of intergenerational responsibility can inform responses to the climate crisis. Their work highlights the tensions between Indigenous concepts of ancestral accountability and commercial 'best practice', revealing how these 'two worlds' can both clash and coexist in practice.

Timings

4.00pm: Guests arrive

4.05pm: CoE Introduction

4.10pm: Keynote Speaker 1 - Mohini Vidwans

4.30pm: Keynote Speaker 2 - Ellie Norris

4.50pm: Q&A Session

5.00pm: Speaking finishes, guests network

5.30pm: Event finishes

Tuesday 7 October

4.00pm - 5.30pm

Patiki, Waimarie Building, Lincoln University

Host or Publisher LU CoE - Transformative Agribusiness