Kārena is a recipient of the BDO Sir Henare Ngata Scholarship - awarded each year to three Māori accounting students nationally to help grow the next generation of Māori accountants.
As a mother of three, full-time student and soon-to-be BDO Hawke’s Bay team member, Kārena Williams has a lot on her plate. Raised by her grandparents, she has a strong purpose and says she’s ambitious to achieve things her tīpuna (ancestors) couldn’t.
Below, Kārena shares her journey to accounting, what inspires her and how the BDO Sir Henare Ngata Scholarship will help her achieve her goals.
“My grandparents came from nothing. They give me my drive.”
I was raised by my elders, in our old ways of life. That’s the basis of who I am and what I do. My grandparents give me inspiration and ambition to achieve things they couldn’t. I’m busy, studying for an accounting degree alongside bringing up my whānau and working with my hapu, but it’s mahi that’s good for the soul.
“I never thought I was good at numbers, but I knew how much meaning they had.”
I wasn’t into maths when I was younger, but I was exposed to a lot of financial documents through my whānau and saw the impact that knowledge can have. I would go to land huis and see how financial reports were used and how many people didn’t know the processes, legalities and professional side of meetings and decisions that impacted them. I saw that by studying accounting, I could fulfil that professional aspect and take my tohu (advice or guidance) back to my people and get them to an elevated level of collective knowledge.
“I’m a descendant of Sir Henare Ngata – he’s an inspiration.”
I whakapapa to Sir Henare Ngata, which is one of the reasons I applied for this scholarship. He and his father, Sir Apirana Ngata, are hugely inspiring to me - they paved the way for Māori accountants and lawyers. I’ve studied some law papers and in the future I plan to finish my law degree and keep doing the mahi that they started, blending law and accounting to uplift and educate our people.
“This scholarship supports my education journey and will help me give back to my community.”
Receiving this scholarship will help me work towards my aspirations of becoming an accountant and a lawyer, giving me tools and resources to take back to the marae and educate the people. It’s a korowai (cloak) of support that will benefit not just me, but iwi, whānau and hapu. The financial support pays for some of my university papers, so it’s a tangible contribution to my education.
The mentorship is also meaningful, helping me to learn from others who have been there and done that. I have the opportunity to walk into rooms I never thought I’d be in, and I’m so excited to learn and be supported by people with this type of knowledge.
“I’m looking forward to applying my accounting skills to help all our iwi and hapu in Hawke’s Bay.”
I’ll join BDO Hawke’s Bay as an intern this year alongside my studies. I can’t wait to learn from other accountants and bring my talents and passions – trust, governance, manaakitanga, aroha and support – to the team.
I hope to become a familiar face for Māori businesses, community trusts, whanau and iwi hapu to work with. I want to help our people not just now, but seven generations down the track.
“Have faith, believe in yourself, and give it a go.”
To anyone considering applying for this scholarship in the future, just do it! If you don’t ask, you don’t know – and there are so many positive things that come from putting yourself forward. I say kia ū to any student thinking about applying – give it a go!
“He mokopuna taku iti, he tipuna taku rahi – I am a descendant so I stay humble, but I will also be an ancestor – so what I do is important.”
About the BDO Sir Henare Ngata Scholarship
The BDO Sir Henare Ngata Scholarship aims to help address the underrepresentation of Māori within the accounting profession. It offers financial assistance, an internship or graduate opportunity with a BDO firm, registration to the Ngā Kaitatau Māori o Aotearoa hui, and mentorship with BDO. To find out more, click here.