Dr Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Ngāti Apakura) is a Tainui leader and Ahorangi/ Professor in the University of Waikato’s Te Pua Wananga ki te Ao - Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies, and is a familiar figure on marae throughout Tainui and the country. Tom’s PhD examined questions about the theory and practices of Māori to English language translation and interpretation. Over the years, Tom has been a leading figure helping to bring the Māori language into the mainstream, and he is one of the founders of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori movement in the 1970s.