Theta Te Ao Māori Technology Scholarship: 2023 applications are open

Our previous recipient, Tayla Fraser Brown, slotted in like a missing piece to a puzzle and remains on the team to this day. We've adored having her! Jeff Wogen, Head of Digital and Te Ao Māori group member:

“Tayla is fantastic to work with and an enthusiastic contributor to our Te Ao Māori group, which aims to promote Māori cultural values and awareness throughout Theta. The MET scholarship programme is such a great way to help more Māori talent enter the exciting world of technology, and we are delighted to partner in this journey.”

Now we're on the lookout for 2023's fresh minds and passionate kiwi undergrads to join us for this year's scholarship, where we will support them throughout their entire Technology and Computer Science degrees. The scholarship supports an undergrad university student of Māori descent in Technology or Computer Science fields, and we will contribute $5,000 per annum for up to three years towards their studies.

We've partnered with the Māori Education Trust to help us through the exciting process of shortlisting appropriate recipients. The trust will also contribute an additional $2,000 per annum to the student's studies. Our scholar will have the opportunity to spend nine weeks over three years of the scholarship in paid work alongside the Theta team, with room for extra work and experience on an ad hoc basis.  

At the end of April, it's down to us to shortlist, interview, and select our recipient as we did last year with our brilliant Tayla.

Tayla got to experience first-hand the Te Ao Māori Scholarship in its first year of glory; we asked her how she found it:

“Joining the team at Theta has been an incredible experience! The opportunity to be exposed to the working world of technology has been invaluable and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting amongst the work their Te Ao Māori group is doing and collaborating with them on meaningful initiatives.”

It’s been a pleasure to watch Tayla’s skillset boom as she chases and continues to fulfil her educational ambition.

If you know of a bright candidate that would be perfect for this year's scholarship, please spread the word! Apply through the Māori Education Trust here.

We look forward to meeting our next scholarship recipient.