About Marissa

Recruitment was where I started. Strategic problem-solving is where my experience has taken me.

As a Māori business owner of Ngāti Maniapoto and Whakatōhea descent, I value the importance of relationships, collaboration and bringing people together to create meaningful outcomes. These values are reflected in both my personal approach and the way I work with organisations, businesses and communities.

I've spent more than 12 years working in recruitment, building relationships with businesses and candidates and developing a strong understanding of people, teams and workforce challenges. I moved into the regional development space with Priority One, where my role expanded significantly into project and programme leadership, sustainability, stakeholder engagement and strategic initiatives across the Western Bay of Plenty region.

During my time at Priority One, I worked across business, industry, local and central government and community organisations, leading projects that required collaboration across multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.

I established and led initiatives including the Circular Construction Collective, Partnering for Nature, Our Energy Future and Mode Shift, while also contributing to wider regional strategy, social procurement and workforce initiatives.

That experience changed the way I look at business problems.

People, projects, strategy, workforce and commercial outcomes are rarely separate issues. They are connected.

Today, I bring those experiences together through Aligned Workforce Solutions Ltd - providing strategic consulting and project support, alongside recruitment and workforce solutions through Martin Personnel Tauranga.

Whether I'm helping an organisation solve a complex problem, lead a project or find the right person, my approach is the same:

Understand the challenge. Bring people together. Create clarity. Get things moving.