Aroha Mead

Aroha Mead (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Tuhourangi and Ngāi Tūhoe) traverses many different fields and disciplines. She's a political scientist (international relations) specialsing on the contribution of indigenous peoples to national, regional and global policy and law. Aroha has experience in journalism, public policy, diplomacy, senior management, governance boards, academic lecturer and researcher. She's worked in many different sectors including the public service, international organisations, community groups and in the voluntary sector.  Her experience traverses working directly with and for local communities and at national, regional (particularly Pacific region) and internationally. Aroha has published extensively on: Indigenous sustainable development, Indigenous cultural and intellectual property policies, participatory conservation, bio-cultural heritage, the role of culture in development and sustainability and many other issues.