Rosa Yates- Kaiako Ōtaki

Rosa is gardener, educator, and kai sovereignty networker, based in Otaki on the Kapiti coast. Rosa discovered the joy of gardening through volunteering on organic growing projects around the motu, and has found growing and sharing kai an effective means to connect with people and place in Aotearoa, and around the world. 

Rosa is a kaitiaki and collaborator at Ahoaho māra kai at Ōtaki college. She works here to bring rangatahi into close contact with natural rhythms and regenerative food systems, and supports emergent relationships with the wider community. Rosa’s work is rooted in the permaculture ethics, and aligned with the principles of Hua Parakore. 

Rosa is happiest with her hands in the soil, and loves the ways in which mahimāra connects us all to our local ecologies - human and non-human alike. Having experienced first hand the benefits - physical, mental, social - of working on the land, Rosa is passionate about offering that opportunity to others, and using this work as a vehicle for social change.