Pacific Advisory Group Profiles

Members of this group are:

Fa'amatuainu Tino Pereira (chair)

Fa'amatuainu is a prominent and experienced Pacific consultant on public sector issues and a leading conference facilitator. He is Managing Director of Niu Vision Group, a specialist consultancy firm based in Wellington, and an experienced governance practitioner with membership on many government Boards, Committees and NGOs.

Fa'amatuainu is a key advisor to many government departments. For more than 15 years he was involved in New Zealand's broadcasting sector as a journalist, broadcaster, and commentator on Pacific issues. He has had significant community involvement for more than two decades including community leadership responsibilities. Fa’amatuainu is of Samoan descent. He holds the chiefly orator title of Fa’amatuainu from Lufilufi in Samoa.

Emeline Afeaki-Mafile'o

Emeline is the founder and CEO of Affirming Works Ltd, an innovative social service organisation developed in Manukau City over the last eight years. The company delivers mentoring programmes across all school levels based on the Model of Pacific Collective Mentoring. It works with up to 500 young people per year.  Emeline has also been involved in scoping and preventing the increase of youth gang behaviour in Mangere and the wider Counties Manukau area.  

Emeline holds a Bachelor of Social Work (Hons.), a Postgraduate Diploma in Social Science and a Masters in Philosophy majoring in Social Policy.  She was awarded the Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader Award for 2006.   Emeline is of Tongan descent. 

Yvonne Crichton-Hill

Yvonne is a senior lecturer with the Department of Social Work at the University of Canterbury. She has extensive experience of working in the areas of child protection social work and youth justice, and in particular work with Samoan families. 

Yvonne’s research focus is in the field of domestic and family violence and more specifically on spouse/partner abuse and violence among adults within family relationships.  Yvonne is a PhD candidate with the School of Social Work and Human Services, University of Canterbury. Her PhD thesis is entitled Women's experience of violence and the implications for the care and protection of children.

Yvonne is a member of the Social Workers Registration Board, Chair of the board of Pacific Trust Canterbury, a Pacific health and social service provider, Project Leader of the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse and a member of the team at Te Awatea Violence Research Centre.  Yvonne is of Samoan descent.

Judge Ida Malosi

Judge Ida Malosi was appointed to the Manukau District Court, with a Family Court warrant, in August 2002.  She is of proud of her Samoan heritage, and of being a New Zealander.

Prior to her appointment to the Bench her specialities within the law were children, young people, family violence and mental health.  She retains a keen interest in all of those areas.

As a Judge she is passionate about people reaching their full potential, which is why her work in the South Auckland Youth Courts has been a primary focus over the last few years.

Fale Mokauina Fuemana-Ngaro

Moka is a Clinical Practitioner focusing on counselling, family therapy, child mental health and clinical and cultural supervision.  She has twelve years experience in pioneering a community base charitable trust.  Moka holds qualifications in counselling, family therapy and clinical supervision.  She is currently employed as a counsellor for Unitec Institute of Technology.  Moka is of Niuean, Cook Island and Samoan descent.

Nuku Rapana

Nuku is the President of the Pukapuka Island Community in New Zealand.

He has been instrumental in the establishment and development of the Pukapuka Community Centre in Mangere, Auckland, which provides a range of social and health services, school programmes and other activities, including cultural, sports and recreational events. In addition, Nuku established the Pukapuka Training Academy, which provides training in electro-technology and ICT targeting Pacific communities, as well as a number of community-owned enterprises including a bakery, a shop, and selling Polynesian delicacies at the local markets. Known for his flair and entrepreneurship, Nuku is a recognised leader in the wider Cook Islands and Pacific communities, where he is widely respected for his abilities to turn a vision into reality.  Nuku is of Cook Island descent.

Peseta Betty Sio

Betty is CEO of the Pacific Island Safety and Prevention Project, otherwise known as The Project in Waitakere.  Betty has over 20 years experience in Pacific and mainstream agencies specialising in counselling, working with victims of violence and designing, implementing and reviewing programmes to reduce family violence. 

Betty’s prime area of focus is family violence and abuse prevention as well as participation at the governance level for a range of organisations such as Family Life Education Pasefika, Grey Lynn Refuge, Child Youth & Family Resource Panel and West Auckland Pacific Island Health Fono.  Betty is of Samoan descent.  She holds the Samoan chiefly titles of Usufonoimanu and Peseta.