Tui Ora was founded 1 July 1998 after consultation iwi representative group Te Whare Pūnanga Kōrero. Eight original service providers united to form Aotearoa’s first Māori Development Organisation (MDO) — a not-for-profit dedicated to improving health outcomes for Taranaki whānau. The new organisation was named Tui Ora.
The new organisation grew rapidly under the guidance of CE Hayden Wano (Taranaki, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Awa). By 2002 Tui Ora had 26 providers and a turnover of $4.4 million. Early strategic mahi encouraged more collaboration between individual providers so that together we could better serve whānau.