Qiane Matata-Sipu (Te Waiohua ki Te Ahiwaru me Te Ākitai, Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pikiao, Cook Islands) is an esteemed Māori-Pasifika creative, storyteller, and award-winning journalist and photographer. She is a social activist and cultural commentator who has a 14-year career contributing to leading media publications and books across Aotearoa and the Pacific. Qiane is a regular guest speaker at women’s arts, business and leadership events. She is the founder and director of NUKU and QIANE+co, and is the founding member and co-leader of Protect Ihumātao. In 2021 Qiane was awarded the Women of Influence Arts and Culture Award, and in 2023 became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to the arts. Her first book NUKU: Stories of 100 Indigenous Women was shortlisted in the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for Illustrated Non-Fiction.
Isobel Te Aho-White (Ngati Kahungunu, Ngai Tahu) is an award-winning Illustrator based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Her book Santa’s Worst Christmas (2019) with Huia publishers was nominated for the NCYA Book Awards across five categories and her book Whiti: Colossal Squid of the Deep (2020) written by Victoria Cleal and published by Te Papa Press won a Whitley award for best children’s book. She is the illustrator of Witi Ihimaera's novels about Te Kōkōrangi, the Astromancer (Puffin, 2022 and 2024), a co-illustrator of The Maori Picture Dictionary/Te Papakupu Whakaahua by Margaret Sinclair and Ross Calman (Puffin, 2022), and her illustrations have enhanced well over 30 children's books to date.