Dame Georgina Kingi, of Hastings, DNZM, for services to Māori and education
Dame Georgina Kingi has been the Principal of St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College since 1987, having taught at the school since 1969. Dame Georgina has worked to ensure the provision of quality education, and the teaching of Te Reo and Tikanga Māori in the school. She is a licensed Māori interpreter, a foundation member and former Chairperson of the Hawke’s Bay Māori Language Association, and has been a representative on the Māori syllabus committee. She has been a member of a number of Principal’s associations since the 1980s and the Hawke’s Bay Catholic District Council. She is an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Taradale, which has been involved in several partnerships with St Joseph’s. In collaboration with the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council she arranged for St Joseph’s students to visit Hawke’s Bay’s sister city in China in a mutual cultural exchange. She is heavily involved with St Joseph’s Senior Kapa Haka team, which has performed nationally and internationally. St Joseph’s was rated the top girls’ school in Hawke’s Bay in 2012. Dame Georgina is a member of the Education Expert Panel for the Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards in 2014 and led the planning for the National Manu Korero speech competition.