Dr Nikki Penetito-Hemara is of Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Kahungunu, Whakatōhea, and Ngāti Porou descent, and a researcher, facilitator, and strategist specialising in kaupapa Māori approaches to wellbeing, movement, and systems change. She is the Managing Director of Kori Collab, a Senior Lecturer at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), and a Senior Consultant with Oi Collective.

Her doctoral research, He Pūkenga Pūrākau, Ka Ora te Tamaiti, explores ancestral narratives and physical activity as pathways to Māori wellbeing. Nikki is a māmā of four and a respected play practitioner. She weaves pūrākau and taonga tākaro through her work to support movement as an expression of identity, whakapapa, and hauora. He tīwaiwaka ia, nā Māui!