Inspire - a chat with Erana Severne

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Join us for the March Inspire - a chat with Erana Severne, Operations Manager at the Wise Group and an inspiring Wahine.    

Erana is an inspiring young leader in the community and wellbeing space. She believes in the power of positivity and collaboration to bring visionary work to fruition. Erana loves the challenge of turning the impossible into the possible. Why? Because people, whānau, and communities deserve the absolute best from health and wellbeing models and services. Erana is currently a General Manager of three kaupapa at the Wise Group, where she brings her visionary perspective to three transformational community projects. She was recently featured in 'Womankind': a book profiling 50 women making a difference in Aotearoa.

Through Covid-19, Erana was a key player in the strategy to distribute over 457,000 meals to families in need over nine weeks. At the same time, Erana also co-led the development of a local initiative called 'Here to help u', which has revolutionised how people access social and wellbeing support. In just over a year and through the combined efforts of partners, providers and volunteers; almost 9,000 people have received the full support they needed, and Here to help u is now growing into other areas and regions.

Previously Erana worked at the DHB, developing successful projects to support Māori workforce development and healthy homes. The healthy homes project Erana led, significantly reduced avoidable child hospital admissions. 

Erana is passionate about igniting the next generation of New Zealand leaders. She mentors young leaders, volunteers as a healthy cooking coach, supports Māori and Pasifika women to participate in fitness, and runs free leadership strength-based workshops within the community.

Outside of her mahi and community work Erana can be found spending precious time with whānau and friends. When asked what she is most proud of, Erana mentioned her two children, Nola (3), Solo (4 months) and her sweetheart Longo who she met when she was 18 years old at Waikato University.