Deborah Te Kawa

Deb Te Kawa (Ngāti Porou) is Principal Consultant at DTK and Associates, a governance and public policy consultancy working across Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. She is completing a doctorate in Politics and International Relations at the University of Canterbury, where she has co-ordinated courses in public policy and governance. Her research examines free and frank advice in policy advisory systems, with particular attention to the constitutional implications of Te Tiriti o Waitangi for Westminster conventions. Her professional practice spans strategic commissioning, institutional performance review, Crown-Māori governance, and regulatory design, including over fifty Gateway Reviews across both Aotearoa and Australia. She holds a Master of Public Management (Victoria University of Wellington), postgraduate certificates in Information Management (Victoria University) and Change Management and Systems Theory (Cornell University). She also has a Graduate Certificate in Governance Practice (Australian Institute of Governance) and project management certifications at the programme and portfolio level (AIPM). Her broader interests include AI governance, Māori data sovereignty, and the institutional conditions under which public-sector advice remains both free and frank, yet in tension with democratic theory.