Mrs Tere Gilbert, of Hamilton, ONZM for services to early childhood and Māori language education
Tere Gilbert (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Hauiti) was a kaiako and subsequently Tumuaki/Manager of Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka at the University of Waikato. She leads Te Kōhao Kōhungahunga, Te Kōhao Health’s first puna reo, in Hamilton. Puna reo are Māori immersion early learning centres for tamariki up to age six. She was responsible for bringing together many puna reo in New Zealand, culminating in the establishment of the collective group, Ngā Puna Reo o Aotearoa, which she chairs. She represents the organisation on the Minister of Education’s Early Childhood Advisory Committee. Ms Gilbert has contributed to publications, alongside indigenous Australian and First Nations American and Canadian voices, on the value of indigenous language revitalisation for children in their first years of learning.