The master of the Moanaverse

Governance is in the DNA of Māori-Tongan director Don Mann MInstD whose public and private life have both been focused on long-term planning. 

The middle child of a Māori mother and a Tongan father, Mann says governance comes naturally from being exposed to leadership and decision-making at an early age. 

Currently Chair of his whānau roopu, he also has governance roles at Literacy Aotearoa (Co-Chair), Sky City Auckland Community Trust and the Rising Foundation. 

Mann’s whānau has operated very much like a board with five living generations, plus future mokopuna to think of and plan for. “We have a cooperative way of working; our thinking is strategic and long-term, considering the next generations and we have a consensus model of decision-making,” he says. 

Mann stood out from an early age, carrying the same name as his top-level rugby league-playing father, which was both a challenge and a blessing at times.

After being a police officer and detective, he set his heart on sports management, becoming New Zealand Rugby League’s marketing manager and GM of the Warriors franchise, and then working on Auckland’s economic development strategy. 

“I loved the police. I was able to complete a Bachelor of Business there, as well as working alongside experienced Māori police officers who helped me find my feet.” 

In 2020, as the Covid pandemic took hold, Mann took a leap into relatively unknown subject matter to run ethnic broadcaster Pacific Media Network. He initially turned down the job offer, thinking that media was, and is, facing incredibly challenging times. Then he looked backwards and had a rethink.

“I stopped and asked myself what’s the point of having management and governance experience, if not to serve my own community? 

“What was the point of 13 years of being a police officer and detective, 13 years managing professional sport, working in economic development (at Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development) and building a governance career? If you don’t utilise all those experiences to give back, they just become a vanity project.” 

The lightbulb moment was when Mann realised the role was far more than being a multimedia company boss. It was part of his heritage. 

“Broadcasting and media are a means to an end. Our trust deed considers the prosperity of Pacific people, building New Zealand’s identity as a Pacific nation and developing a pipeline of Pacific broadcast excellence.” 

The 30-year-old Pacific Media Network was founded by Pacific migrant leaders who needed a media vehicle to support the Pacific population to settle and thrive. “My father and my grandparents are migrants who developed an attachment to the radio network to keep connected to Tonga.

“It was also a way to support the next generation growing up in Australia and New Zealand. For example, dad’s older brother George leveraged the radio station to help establish the Tongan international rugby league team.”

But Mann was also interested in the challenge of working in a disruptive industry. “I’ve always been drawn to change and disruption. And there was a lot of change going on. It was a time when two of our mainstream media – Stuff and NZME – were looking at merging and then Sinead Boucher bought Stuff for $1. Meanwhile, then broadcasting minister Kris Faafoi was considering merging TVNZ and Radio New Zealand.” 

Mann drew on his connections, including the media network he had developed while with the Warriors. Other relationships he leveraged were with Tongan journalist and leader Sefita Hao’uli, founder of Radio 531pi, and Robert Kahn, managing director of Indian station Radio Tarana.

But Mann wasn’t going into the media environment with rose-tinted glasses – his biggest priority was maintaining viability against the backdrop of economic uncertainty. That meant looking at where they faced competition and, most importantly, what their unique offerings were.

“We have the same macro challenges as mainstream media. Our audiences consume media in multiple ways, global platforms dominate advertising revenue. And we’re challenged to maintain relevance to our respective audiences in the face of social polarisation and the likely rapid adoption of generative AI.

“We’ve also got our own unique challenges and opportunities. We’ve got the fastest growing population, a young audience and a highly diverse community which is bilingual across multiple Pacific languages. We’re a highly diverse community. We operate in 11 languages, 10 of which are Pacific.

“Just because we have a 30-year history of Pacific language broadcasting, we can’t take it for granted that Pacific audiences will stay with us. Our relevance and value depend on our ability to respond and transform to our people.”

The job of transitioning from a linear radio broadcast to a globally relevant Pacific multimedia entity involved two key governance decisions: a 100 per cent Pacific content strategy and a global multimedia strategy dubbed ‘The Moanaverse’.

The new direction turned them to their core reason for being – to make content by Pacific for Pacific. This helped differentiate them from other competitors in the market.

“For example, if you look at urban- youth broadcasting there were three major radio entities – NZME’s Flava FM, Media Works Mai FM and our Niu FM. Our approach meant Pacific youth would have 100 per cent guaranteed programming about Pacific people, arts, culture and identity.

The Moanaverse strategy required understanding their audience both domestically and the approximately 15 million Pacific people globally. 

Once they were clear the Pacific Media Network was an international organisation, they developed relationships with media giants Meta and Google. Meta offered an accelerator programme providing a grant and guidance to build their award-winning digital platform pmn.co.nz, while the relationship with Google is commercial, ensuring their content is valued and paid for. 

That said, their agreement leaves the door open for any future collective bargaining that might develop following the Fair Digital Bargaining legislation currently before Parliament. 

Mann is quick to celebrate the network’s achievements, some of which are recruiting and training 36 Māori and Pacific journalism cadets and the highest rotation of local music compared to all other radio stations in New Zealand. 

But that is a double-edged sword because as quickly as they recruit and train their people, the big recruitment drives by mainstream networks such as ABC Pacific in Australia are luring staff away.

“That raises many questions about workforce development and retaining talent, but also if there are more collaboration opportunities with global broadcasters.” 

Balancing a full-time executive role with his governance responsibilities has its advantages for Mann who says the roles feed off each other. “I just have to be very deliberate about preparing myself before meetings to get my head into what role I have that day.’ 

“Being on both sides of the table as a CEO or as a board member has helped me develop empathy and an understanding of others. I always take time to self-reflect and ask myself, ‘have I been a good governor, and have I fulfilled my role properly?’”