Past student Frank Solomon was honoured in the King’s Birthday and Coronation Honours List 2023 for services to education, particularly Māori and Pacific education.
Mr Frank Solomon (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa) and his wife Judy Solomon co-founded Solomon Group, an education provider for school non-achievers with particular reference to Māori and Pacific learners in South Auckland and Northland.
Mr Solomon trained as a teacher and was Principal of Waiheke Area School and Rotorua Lakes High School in the late 1980s. In 1997, Mr and Mrs Solomon co-founded Solomon Group initially in Pukekohe, a Private Training Establishment that provides learning opportunities to disadvantaged Māori and Pacific learners in a holistic, cultural environment based on Māori kaupapa values. They established several initiatives to support 7,000 students a year over many years to gain skills and qualifications to secure employment, achieve financial independence and lift mana. They were host providers for ‘Whānau Ara Mua’, an intergenerational education programme which increases parents’ literacy and employability skills. The Group also worked collaboratively with Māori and Pasifika Trades Training to provide pathways to employment within the trades. Mr and Mrs Solomon worked with ANZ to deliver the ‘Money Minded’ programme, teaching financial literacy and budgeting skills to students, many of whom were former beneficiaries.
[Photo of the Solomon family from Solomon Group website]