Jen Margaret is an educator, researcher, and author on community and international development work based in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, her area of expertise is in education about

Te Tiriti o Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

(Treaty of Waitangi). She is a founding member of the organisation Groundwork: Facilitating Change with the purpose to educate

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

(white New Zealanders) about New Zealand history.

Early life and education

Margaret is

of Cornish, Scottish, Danish and German ancestry. She grew up on a farm near

Leeston Leeston (Māori language, Māori: ''Karumata'') is a town on the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 30 kilometres southwest of Christchurch, between the shore of Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora and the mouth of the Ra ...

on the Canterbury Plains. The

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

of this region is Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki. Her father was a farmer and her mother was a teacher. Her great-great-grandfather was born in Scotland in 1842. His name was Joseph Hastings Doyle and he settled in New Zealand in 1864 where the town was named after him,

Doyleston Doyleston is a minor Canterbury town in the South Island of New Zealand. It was named after Joseph Hastings Doyle, a publican from Christchurch who moved to the locality. Doyleston promised to be one of the main townships in the Ellesmere area ...

. Margaret's great-great-grandmother was named Bessie Roberts. Some of the land of Margaret's family was awarded to her great-great grandfather for winning a running race, although the family no longer own it. At university in the 1990s Margaret learnt about the Treaty of Waitangi, which set her on her path as an educator in this area. Margaret has a Masters Degree from university. Her dissertation was ''Learning in social movements: Experiences in the Pākehā treaty workers' movement'' (2009) from the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

Career

Since the 1990s Margaret has worked in community development, social justice, Te Tiriti o Waitangi implementation and building capacity in organisations. As a researcher Margaret received a

Winston Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

(2010) and a Loxley Fellowship; she researched 'the work of non-indigenous allies in North America, Australia and Aotearoa'. At the Treaty Conference 2000, Margaret and Christine Herzog spoke in a session titled ''Manukau Institute of Technology: Te Tiriti in Tertiary Education Course.'' In 2010 Margaret recorded a series of interviews with

Mitzi Nairn Elizabeth Frances (Mitzi) Nairn (1942–2023) was a feminist and an anti-racist activist in New Zealand. She was a founding member of Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination (ACORD) and Tāmaki Treaty Workers, and part of setting up Pr ...

about social justice and liberation. Margaret founded Groundwork: Facilitating Change in 2015. Groundwork is an organisation that delivers education to organisations and individuals about Te Tiriti o Waitangi / The Treaty of Waitangi. Margaret through Groundwork predominantly works with Pākehā people to help people understand how the dishonoured promises of Te Tiriti have left subsequent generations of Māori 'on the back foot'. In addition to running workshops Margaret is a spokesperson and published an article called ''Becoming 'really Pākehā on E-Tangata in 2019 and is in episode two ''Inheriting Privilege'' of the documentary series on Radio New Zealand called ''Land of the Long White Cloud'' (2019). She was a speaker at the Te Tiriti Based Futures and Anti Racism conference in 2020 alongside Julia Whaipooti and The Seed podcast in 2022. Margaret has described a challenge for New Zealand 'to make the Pākehā side, the "Pākehā nation," an exciting and honourable place to be'.

Publications

Books

* ''Working as allies: supporters of indigenous justice reflect'' (2013) - published by Auckland Workers' Educational Association (AWEA) * ''Ngā rerenga o te Tiriti: community organisations engaging with the Treaty of Waitangi'' (2016) - published by Auckland, Aotearoa : Treaty Resource Centre * Chapter: Jen Margaret and Heather Came, ''Organizing—What Do White People Need to Know to Be Effective Antiracism Allies Within Public Health?'' Racism: Science & Tools for the Public Health Professional. (2019)

Selected articles

* * Jen Margaret, ''Capacity Development Processes within a Social Movement: Pākehā Treaty Workers' Movement.'' Volume 41, Issue 3, Special Issue: Reflecting Collectively on Capacities for Change (May 2010) Pages 68-78

Personal life

Margaret has a partner and a child.

References

External links

Jen Margaret on LinkedIn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Margaret, Jen Living people New Zealand educators People from Leeston University of Auckland alumni Year of birth missing (living people)