Dame Georgina Kingi is a New Zealand educator who has been principal of the

St Joseph's Māori Girls' College St Joseph's Māori Girls' College or Hato Hōhepa is a Catholic, integrated, boarding and day college in Taradale, New Zealand, for girls in Year 7 to Year 13. It is the largest Māori girls' boarding secondary school in New Zealand. History St ...

since 1987. Kingi grew up in Poroporo, near Whakatane. She is a member of the

Ngāti Awa Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...

and Ngāti Pūkeko. She attended St Joseph's and the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. Kingi began teaching at St Joseph's in 1969, initially as a

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

teacher. She became principal of the school in 1987. Kingi is a licensed interpreter of the Māori language. She was a founding member and former chairwoman of the Hawke's Bay Māori Language Association. In 1993, Kingi was awarded the

New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 was established by Royal Warrant on 1 July 1993. It was created to commemorate Women's suffrage in New Zealand and to recognize those New Zealand and Commonwealth citizens who had made a significant ...

. She was made a Companion of the

Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for Public Services in the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

. In the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, she was made a Dame Companion of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, for services to Māori and education.

References

Living people Ngāti Pūkenga people Ngāti Awa people New Zealand Māori women New Zealand Māori schoolteachers New Zealand educators New Zealand women educators Companions of the Queen's Service Order Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit University of Auckland alumni New Zealand Roman Catholics Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 Year of birth missing (living people) {{Māori-bio-stub