Borrin Foundation – Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Postgraduate Scholarship for Yasmin Olsen
Yasmin is pursuing a LLM at Yale University in Connecticut, USA. Yasmin hopes to play a part in criminal justice reform to develop a system that better serves wāhine Māori, as both victims and defendants.
Borrin Foundation - Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga postgraduate scholarship
About Yasmin
Ngāpuhi (Te Ihutai), Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Tīpā
Yasmin was born in Far North Queensland, Australia, and moved home to Aotearoa New Zealand when she was 12.
In 2015, Yasmin graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts (English Literature). Yasmin then clerked for his Honour Justice Palmer at the High Court in Auckland. Since 2018, Yasmin has worked as Crown Prosecutor at Kayes Fletcher Walker, the Office of the Manukau Crown Solicitor.
Yasmin has a particular interest in gender justice issues, and in 2022 served as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Te Aho Kawe Kaupapa Ture a ngā Wāhine — The New Zealand Women’s Law Journal.
After beginning her journey learning te reo Māori as an adult, Yasmin undertook full-time, full-immersion te reo Māori study at Te Wānanga o Raukawa in 2022.
What Yasmin is studying
Yasmin will begin studying towards an LLM at Yale University the 2023 – 2024 academic year. Yasmin’s study will focus on the intersection between criminal law and justice, feminist legal theory, and indigenous peoples and the law. Following her study, Yasmin hopes to play a part in criminal justice reform to develop a system that better serves wāhine Māori, as both victims and defendants.
Scholarship amount
$80,000
“Me aro koe ki te hā o Hine-ahu-one — Pay heed to the dignity and power of women
When wāhine Māori thrive, our communities thrive too. I intend to bring what I learn home to Aotearoa, and to contribute to the amazing work already being done to improve the lives of wāhine Māori and our whānau.”
– Yasmin Olsen