Kōrero Mai began at the grassroots with whānau not as a product, but as a response to what parents and rangatahi in South Auckland told us they needed: safer, more honest ways to talk with each other, says Systems Innovator, Veranika Seiuli from Healthy Families South Auckland The Cause Collective (HFSA).   

“Through wānanga and co-design, whānau shared the real barriers they face, role confusion, intergenerational silence, power-driven conversations, and homes where listening is often missing. Rangatahi told us they wanted to be heard, not managed. Parents told us they want to do better, but don’t always know how to begin. That’s how and why we created Kōrero Mai,” says Veranika.  

Kōrero Mai are conversation cards that are a tool to help open up dialogue in the whānau. Having been developed over months of conversation with health service providers, rangatahi, parents and mental health practitioners, Kōrero Mai officially launched earlier this month to that very crowd that helped create them.  

“Kōrero Mai sits at the intersection of these realities. The cards are a simple tool, but the shift is much bigger. They change how conversations happen, moving from instruction to connection, from authority to mutual respect.  

“When whānau experience safer kōrero at home, we start to see changes ripple outward: stronger relationships, improved wellbeing, and reduced reliance on crisis responses. This is how systems change starts. 

“By placing whānau voice at the centre, supported by Healthy Families South Auckland and The Cause Collective, Kōrero Mai challenges the system to respond differently. It reframes mental wellbeing as something built in everyday moments, not just services. It shows that prevention lives in kitchens, lounges, and car rides, wherever real conversations happen,” says Veranika.  

Kōrero Mai consists of a range of different questions encouraging rangatahi and adults to open up about how they’re feeling, what they are going through and potentially what support they might need.  

If you are interested in the Kōrero Mai cards and would like to get in touch with the team, please email the team at [email protected].