On a mission to teach Kiwi kids about saving and money

Friday, 28 June 2019

Kendall Flutey is the chief executive of Banqer, which teaches Kiwi kids financial literacy.

Growing up in Christchurch and watching her single mother work hard to provide for her and her sibling led Kendall Flutey on a mission to teach Kiwi kids about financial literacy.

The self-described 'reformed accountant' is the chief executive of Banqer, an online tool she developed with Kiwibank in 2015. Now in more than 300 primary and intermediate schools all over the country, and used by 63,000 Australian students, it teaches pupils about savings, earning interest, income, borrowing and purchasing.

For her work, Flutey, 29, Ngāi Tahu, is the winner of the Te Whetū Maiangi Award for Young Achievers, at the fourth annual Māori Television Matariki Awards, held on Saturday night at Auckland's Eden Park. The awards celebrate tangata whenua doing good things in their communities.

While Banqer has taken off, tech entrepreneur Flutey is determined to keep its growth sustainable, and not exploitative.

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'We need business sustainability, but it doesn't have to be 100 per cent capitalism all the time, squeezing a dollar out of every rock,' she says. 'We are better than that; and I think once people realise that, we can unlock some pretty cool things. You need to make a living, but not some exploitative thing. I think people get lost in that journey.'

There are plans to roll the programme out in the US, Canada and Singapore, and a Māori version 'Pēke Kā' was also released last year.

Other Matariki Awards winners – whittled down from 24 finalists – include Ainsley Gardiner, who won the Te Waipuna-ā-Rangi Award for Arts and Entertainment for her work in the film industry.

She launched Whenua Films with Cliff Curtis in 2004, to promote indigenous story-telling on screen and produced Eagle vs Shark and Boy with Taika Waititi. Award winning country singer Dennis Marsh won the Te Mata o te Ariki, Special Recognition Award.

Kuini Moehau Reedy, Te Aitanga ā Mate and Ngāti Porou, received a Lifetime Achievement Award. The 78-year-old is well known for her work promoting te reo rangatira through art. Kaikōura business Whale Watch won the supreme award for its ecotourism efforts despite the setback of the 2016 earthquake.

Other winners were Noeline Taurua, Te Waitā Award for Sport; Dr Amanda Black, Te Tupu-ā-Rangi Award for Health and Science; Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith, Te Ururangi Award for Education; Pania Papa, Te Waitī Award for Te Reo and Tikanga.

Māori Television chief executive Shane Taurima said it was 'humbling' to celebrate Māori achievement and success.

'One of our missions as a broadcaster is to revitalise te reo in Aotearoa, so it's promising to see the calibre of tangata whenua making strides in their chosen fields and forging a world we can be proud of.

'From business entrepreneurs and educators through to musicians, scientists and community groups, we've all got a responsibility to represent Te Ao Māori and instil a sense of honour in our people.'

* Māori Television and Te Puni Kōkiri presented the inaugural Matariki Awards in 2016, becoming an annual event to celebrate and honour extraordinary Māori talent and achievement across a broad range of fields and industries. For the full list of winners go here.