I was awarded an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in 2023 by King Charles III for my service to ethnic communities. I am the first Professor of Diversity in New Zealand/Aotearoa and have worked for more than two decades at the Auckland University of Technology where I was University Director of Diversity. A Fulbright alumna, recipient of a Duke of Edinburgh Fellowship, I am a thought leader and knowledgeable interpreter in diversity in business, communities and education and my interdisciplinary research is widely published. Awarded a Royal Society medal – Te Rangi Hiroa medal for my work on intersectional diversity and elected as a Councillor to the governing body of AUT; I was appointed to the Ministerial Advisory Group (Kapuia) on the Government Response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the terrorist attacks on Christchurch Mosques and was a panellist on the Royal Society Rutherford Discovery Fellowship. My pioneering research and community engagement has had a significant impact on how ethnic minority migrants are (de)constructed in organisations and how religion and ethnicity are powerful entwined forces in the business and social arenas and extremism in New Zealand and internationally.  A woman of peace and prayer, a scholar of colour, and a passionately engaged educator, I have presented at numerous international conferences, global organisations and am extensively quoted in the media. I bring grace, gratitude, courage and thoughtfulness to governance, teaching, curriculum development, research, doctoral supervisions, and stakeholder engagement. I am a budding campanologist and a keen gardener, and I am a research fellow at Oxford University.

I research in the areas of Ageing, Diversity, Ethnic Minorities in Work and Enterprise,

Eastern & Indigenous Perspectives on Religion/Spirituality/Wisdom/Faith at Work,

Management Education & Learning. As a passionate, engaged qualitative researcher, I employ a wide range of methodologies and work through transdisciplinary pathways always keeping in mind the need to facilitate and catalyse change for those on the margins and to make research exciting and accessible.

I have taught at the postgraduate level for the Master of Business and Master of Business Administration. Some of the course I have taught include Diversity & Inclusion, The Leader’s Mind, Organisational Change Management, Leading a high performance culture and Making decisions strategically. I have supervised and mentored numerous Master’s and Doctoral students.