The Ngā Wai a Te Tūī – Hiringa Hauora Summer Research Mentorship is a kaupapa Māori collaboration to increase hauora Māori (Māori wellbeing) research capacity. The idea of research internships is not new, nor is a focus on hauora Māori. What is distinctive about this summer mentorship is its kaupapa Māori approach to support a diverse range of Māori into research that is by Māori, for Māori, and holds Māori values, beliefs and aspirations at its centre. Holding fast to our ways of being throughout the programme has produced a set of learnings and experiences amongst six ‘interns’ that we suggest offers a useful example of how to grow kaupapa Māori research in the hauora space, and beyond. Like many great Māori ideas, this mentorship programme was enabled through whanaungatanga (relationships) – in this case an email from one colleague to another that went something like, “Hey mete I have an idea I want to run past you.” A senior researcher at Te Hiringa Hauora, an evidence-based health-promotions organisation, approached her colleague, co-author Hinekura Smith, a senior lecturer and researcher at Unitec’s Ngā Wai a Te Tūī Māori and Indigenous Research Centre, with a funding opportunity to develop and facilitate a summer internship programme.