New CEO for national Pacific provider Vaka Tautua
Moananu Anna Redican Kolose, new CEO for Vaka Tautua.
Vaka Tautua's Board of Directors announced the appointment of a dynamic new Chief Executive Officer for the organisation this week. Moananu Anna Redican Kolose, currently Pacific Equity Programme Director for the Auckland District Health Board, will step into the role from 4 May.
Having left a corporate legal career twenty years ago to join the public service, Anna wants to help achieve equitable health and socio-economic outcomes for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa.
She says, “After almost two decades in the public health sector, I am excited to take up the role of Chief Executive Officer at Vaka Tautua. I hope to lead the organisation's continued growth at a time of real transformation in the New Zealand health system.”
Throughout the pandemic, Anna also acted as Pacific COVID-19 Vaccination Programme Lead for the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre. There she helped launch a free phone line for Pacific people to make vaccination bookings in their own languages. She was instrumental in galvanising support for the Pacific families affected by COVID-19 in the 2020 outbreaks.
Anna credits her interest in Pacific health to her family. Her mother, Aseta Redican, was the first New Zealand qualified Pacific physiotherapist and was Pacific General Manager at ADHB. Anna's grandmother, Matelina Okesene, was a Samoan/Niuean nurse, and her grandfather was well-known Doctor Moananu loane Okesene Tilialo. The chiefly title 'Moananu' comes from his mother's village of Fogapoa in Savai'i, Samoa.
“I see great opportunities in collaborating and partnering with other Pacific provider organisations to lead this transformation for Pacific peoples,” says Anna, “Vaka Tautua is at the coalface of serving and supporting Pacific families. I am honoured to be given the chance to build on the legacy of its former leaders and founders. For me, this is the ultimate role in my career.”
Established in 2004, Vaka Tautua is a national ‘by Pacific, for Pacific’ health, disability and social services provider. The appointment of Moananu Anna Redican Kolose heralds an exciting time of further growth for the organisation, to achieve greater outcomes for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand.