Born in Kawakawa and raised in Milton, Steven Renata is of Māori and Pākehā (Scottish/Irish) heritage. Among the first Māori graduates of the University of Otago, he completed a Master’s in Marketing (1994) and began in Māori tourism at AUT before co-founding Les Mills International. He is Kaiwhakahaere Matua/Managing Director and co-owner of KIWA Digital, a Māori-led creative and cultural agency whose VoiceQ software supports dubbing and game localisation for global studios and Indigenous-language projects. KIWA’s sister platforms QutPro and CultureQ strengthen cultural capability and enable secure, governed community knowledge management. Steven leads with tribal values—centred on language and relationships - and is based in Auckland with his whānau.