Ko Wai Tātou? | Who Are We?

Fuimaono Dylan Asafo is from the villages of Salani, Satalo, Siumu, Moata’a, and Leufisa in Samoa. Dylan's primary areas of interest include: race and the law, climate justice in the Pacific, constitutional and human rights law in the Pacific, and criminal justice and abolition. Dylan earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard University as a Fulbright General Graduate Award recipient.

Marco de Jong is a Pacific historian and lecturer at the AUT Law School. He was raised in Tāmaki Makaurau with ties to Papa Puleia in Sāmoa. His work details the history of regional politics and environmental governance in the Pacific Islands with a particular focus on Indigenous knowledge, nature conservation, anti-nuclearism, and climate change. Marco completed a doctorate at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and worked in civil society organisations advocating for a independent, nuclear free and Pacific-led foreign policy for Aotearoa.

Rhieve Grey (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Raukawa) is deeply passionate about his indigenous identity and how indigenous knowledge can be used to better the world we live in. Rhieve has worked across many fields in the research space including health, policy, infrastructure and incarceration. After completing his undergraduate degree in Aotearoa, Rhieve was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship. In his first year at Oxford Rhieve completed an MSc in Evidence Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation and completed a Master’s of Public Policy in his second year. Rhieve is currently researching the interactions between Te Ao Māori, Diplomacy and Foreign Policymaking. The research aims to shed light on some of the contemporary and future priorities of Māori when it comes to Aotearoa New Zealand’s role in the world.

Nina Hall (Pākehā) grew up in windy Wellington and now works in Bologna, Italy. She is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe. Her research explores the role of transnational advocacy and international organizations in international relations. Her most recent book is Transnational Advocacy in the Digital Era, Think Global, Act Local (Oxford University Press, 2022). She writes frequently on New Zealand foreign policy including for the Spinoff, Stuff, Newsroom, the Conversation, the Washington Post, and has been a regular commentator on RNZ Nights. She edited a book on New Zealand foreign policy, Beyond these Shores: Aotearoa and the World (BWB, 2020), which includes essays from a number of Te Kuaka members.

Max Harris (Pākehā) is a barrister, campaigner, and writer. He works for Thorndon Chambers and ActionStation, and writes occasional columns for the New Zealand Herald, Stuff, Newsroom, and other outlets. He has a PhD in constitutional law and has previously worked as a UNDP consultant, an economic policy advisor, and a judge's clerk to the Chief Justice. He is the author of the book The New Zealand Project.

Arama Rata (Ngāti Maniapoto, Taranaki, and Ngāruahine) completed her PhD in Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington in 2012, which focused on Māori cultural engagement, identity, and psychological well-being in State secondary schools. Arama then lectured at Te Kawa a Māui (the School of Māori Studies), where she received a Research Establishment Grant to study Māori collective remembering of the New Zealand Wars. Arama leads the Whanaungatanga: Intergroup relations theme in WERO (Working to End Racial Oppression), and undertakes research on relationality across racial difference, ethical remembering and racism in mainstream and social media.