Meet our team: Ryan Stark

Published 18 January 2023

Ryan Stark is regional learning advisor at Te Mahi Ako. Ryan loves working outdoors or in the water, and these days he is helping others follow their passion for active roles, through his job as a regional advisor for Te Mahi Ako in Hawke’s Bay.

“I’ve done a lot over my years. I’ve worked for 15 or more different companies, from potato farming to farm fencing, to forestry and horticulture and viticulture. But over the last 10 years I got back into the aquatics industry as a lifeguard, and that’s how I got be at Te Mahi Ako.”

Ryan had recently completed his own Pool Lifeguard apprenticeship before he joined the Te Mahi Ako team, so he knows all about the experience of being a work-based learner.

Ryan says his overall mission is to keep his learners and workplaces happy, and make sure they get the opportunities he had: To upskill and progress in their careers, and to realise that their skills are valuable and important. His favourite part of the job is presenting apprentice graduates with their certificates.

“I’m proud that we are able to bring people forward, who maybe would have not been too confident about what they do. With our help they earn a qualification for the work they are already doing, that piece of paper that says: You are qualified.”