Lead judge: Plain Language Champion — Best Organisation

Manager Engagement, Te Puna Hanganga, Matihiko | Infrastructure and Digital, Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand

Matt is senior manager of the Communications Accounts team at the Ministry of Education. Before that he worked at professional services firm Deloitte, the 2014 winner of the Plain English Champion — Best Organisation award.

At Deloitte, Matt led an internal initiative to build awareness of the importance of plain English. Deloitte’s subsequent win in the Plain English Awards cemented Matt’s standing as the firm’s ‘plain English guru’ and put him on our radar as a judge.

In his current role, Matt is keenly aware of the importance of plain language when communicating to the Ministry’s diverse audiences. He hopes to continue to act as a champion for change, both within the Ministry and for the public sector more generally.

Matt has worked in communications and marketing roles in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors during his 20+ years living in New Zealand. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Japanese from the University of Massachusetts, and a Master’s degree in business from Victoria University of Wellington.

Meet the judges for the Plain Language Awards

How the judging process works