The Wall Walk
021 250 2653 simone@thewallwalk.co.nz

Our flagship course is The Wall Walk, which you can do one of 3 ways:

We also offer a sequel to The Wall Walk and several short talks, which are available free online via the icons below or can be delivered in person on request

Look to the past to help forge the future

Hoki whakamuri, kia anga whakamua

This workshop sparks shared insight into events that shaped New Zealand.

The Wall Walk is a room-based experience that guides participants through key moments in time, encouraging reflection on events and their impact on Māori and Aotearoa New Zealand. It is engaging, informative, and delivered in a collaborative environment.

Click on the hyperlinks for a user experience and some thoughts on why this matters for public service professionals

How does it work?

The Wall Walk encourages participants to reflect—before, during, and after—on how history shapes today’s social outcomes and on their own role and impact now and in the future. Each attendee has a small role that requires light, engaging preparation, which all participants do before the workshop.

Learning objectives

#1

Raise awareness of NZ’s unique history of Māori-Crown relations through a Māori lens. A story often forgotten.

  • Teaching historical events very few know
  • Enabling self-discovery with co-creation
  • Focussing on facts, and verifiable events
#2

Mobilise learners to view their world through a Māori lens and act to improve Māori outcomes.

  • Supporting our learners throughout
  • Providing initiatives that lead to results
  • Prompt learners to form their own analysis
#3

Win hearts and minds to provoke action, help Māori and foster a peaceful understanding.

  • Neutral stance provides both perspectives
  • Personalised story linking whakapapa
  • We are more alike than we think

"Help them to understand why this is important."

My interest in the history of bicultural relations in New Zealand grew from time spent with my Nanny and wider whānau. At university in the 1990s I probably puzzled the lecturers by frequently incorporating Māori perspectives into my projects. For my PhD, I compiled statistics on Māori involvement in the criminal justice system from the 1850s using limited pre-internet sources to explain emerging patterns. Although Nanny did not live to see my graduation, this work later aligned my personal and professional interests and shaped my commitment to racial equity in New Zealand’s justice system. While working at Police, Deputy Commissioner Viv Rickard later tasked me with leading a national session on Police’s operational target to reduce Māori re‑offending by 25%.

By 2026, more than 35,000 people from 100+ organisations had walked with us

…proof of both scale and trust, and enough to keep us solvent. But numbers don’t define our relevance; impact does. We no longer count participants. Instead, we welcome stories of how The Wall Walk moved people, changed perspectives, and inspired action. That is where our true impact lives!

“That’s your area of expertise. You lead the day with the District Commanders...Whatever you do, put it in historical context”.

Fuelled by caffeine, I came up with the idea of an interactive timeline of Māori engagement with the criminal justice system—based on my PhD research but designed to be user‑friendly. I assigned District Commanders sections to research and present, which was not popular.

I then enlisted my eldest child to help create a six‑sheet flipchart timeline at work over a weekend. It was meant to be a covert history lesson; she saw straight through it, and we made a considerable mess in Viv’s office.

In 2017, the first “Wall Walk” debuted: hand‑drawn, sellotaped flipcharts lining a wall as I talked through the story. It was rough by today’s standards, but interest grew quickly, with District Leadership Teams requesting it. When Viv moved to the Ministry of Social Development, he invited me to run it for his team, and word of mouth did the rest.

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