Pacific Women Leaders: Lina Chang

By Gail Brown. For the next blog post in the  Pacific Women Leaders  series, I met with Lina Chang. Lina Chang has earned the title of “Mamma” after helping more than 500 children throughout Samoa.  In 2005, Chang opened the Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) which remains Samoa’s only support organization for children who are abused, abandoned, or …

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Pacific Women Leaders: Ilalegagana Kenesareta Moananu

By Gail Brown. For the next blog post in the  Pacific Women Leaders  series, I met with Ilalegagana Kenesareta Moananu. As Samoa’s first woman to become a sea captain, Ilalegagana Kenesareta Moananu knows how to push boundaries.  She is the first female captain working for Samoa Shipping Corporation Limited, and she’s constantly advocating for more women to join …

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Women of Courage by Gail Huff Brown

At the U.S. Embassy, New Zealand we are reflecting and celebrating International Women’s Day with #womenofcourage. Over the past 18 months, Mrs. Gail Huff Brown, wife to Ambassador Scott Brown and previously a professional TV news reporter, has been interviewing outstanding women and publishing the “Pacific Women Leaders” blog. This blog, published on the U.S. Embassy …

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Pacific Women Leaders: Vania Wolfgramm

By Gail Brown. For the next blog post in the  Pacific Women Leaders  series, I met with Vania Wolfgramm. Vania is a former rugby player for the famous Black Ferns.  She loves the sport. Now, as the Women’s Rugby Development Manager at New Zealand Rugby (NZR), her job is to share her passion for rugby with other young …

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Pacific Women Leaders: Vanessa Masoe

By Gail Brown, wife of US Ambassador Scott Brown. For the next blog in the  Pacific Women Leaders  series, I met with Vanessa Masoe – Rugby player. Mentor. By profession, Vanessa Masoe is a Careers Development Consultant to the Tertiary Education Commission (formerly Careers New Zealand). By passion, Vanessa Masoe is a determined competitor who loves the adrenaline …

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Pacific Women Leaders: Nora Swann

By Gail Brown, wife of US Ambassador Scott Brown. For the next blog in the  Pacific Women Leaders  series, I met with Nora Swann, Designer for the  Pacific Fusion Fashion Show . “I’m creative, flamboyant, loud, and fun.  That’s me,” Nora Swann declares when asked to define her personal fashion style.  She loves to visit op-shops to buy different patterns and textiles …

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Pacific Women Leaders: Sera Tapu-Ta’ala

By Gail Brown, wife of US Ambassador Scott Brown. For the next blog in the  Pacific Women Leaders  series, I met with Sera Tapu-Ta’ala, a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Kenepuru Hospital in Porirua. No one understands the serious health problem that diabetes inflicts on Pacific people better than Sera Tapu Ta’ala.  As a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Kenepuru …

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Pacific Women Leaders: Niki Rattle

By Gail Brown, wife of US Ambassador Scott Brown. For the next blog post in the  Pacific Women Leaders  series, I met with Niki Rattle – Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament. “It’s the sweetest coconut juice in the world,” says the Speaker of Cook Islands Parliament, Niki Rattle as I sit down to interview her on a …

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Pacific Women Leaders: Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson

By Gail Brown, wife of US Ambassador Scott Brown. For the next blog in the  Pacific Women Leaders  series, I met Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson – Environmentalist and Climate Change Communicator.   Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson proudly speaks about her culture as the reason why she started her work as first a journalist then as an environmental writer, communicator and …

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Pacific Woman Leader: Ema Piutau

By Gail Brown, wife of US Ambassador Scott Brown For the next blog in the Pacific Women Leaders series I met a fearless young woman, Ema, who has spent her professional career working in the criminal justice system in my new found home of New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington. Ema is serious about delivering justice and she has …

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Pacific Women Leaders: Papali’i Mele Maualaivao

By Gail Brown, wife of US Ambassador Scott Brown. Welcome to the second blog post in a  series of stories highlighting Pacific women  for their contributions to humanity and the communities they serve.  Like the colourful decoration perched above her ear, Papali’i Mele Maualaivao reminds me of an exotic Pacific flower – bright, and bursting with enthusiasm. She channels her energy …

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