Miriam Sherratt - General Manager

Miriam grew up in the Golden Bay. “I loved the environment but there was no way for me to participate in environmental projects. All that was open to me was drinking and getting into trouble.”

After traveling with, and cleaning up after, the European music festival circuit she returned to New Zealand to study environmental science and dedicate herself to education around waste reduction.

Miriam was inexperienced when she started at Papa Taiao Earthcare and convincingly explained that this was her dream job since she was a kid. Just as Shaun was the inspiration behind Papa Taiao, Miriam embodies our kaupapa. Through innovation and enterprise Miriam has rapidly risen to be a formidable thinker, administrator and problem solver around all things operational at Papa Taiao. She very effectively facilitates the virtuous triangle between students, their projects and community mentors that enable student enterprise. She has an incredible ability to convert ideas into action. Very few people can match her level of understanding of applied education for sustainability and changemaking.

After five years building the programme in Te Ūpoko o Te Ika a Maui, she has returned to her roots in the beautiful Tākaka. Her passion is flourishing with her hands in the earth, growing food, volunteering for pest control projects and working remotely for Papa Taiao.