Travel and Learning Award for Mele Tupou-Vaitohi
Borrin Foundation Travel and Learning Award
Mele’s plan
The funding will enable Mele to visit and do research at Penn State Dickinson Law, United States of America for up to six months in 2024. The primary objective of this visit will be to learn from Penn State Dickinson Law’s vision and initiatives on addressing structural racism and intersectional inequality that permeates legal education and the legal profession in the United States.
About Mele
Mele Tupou-Vaitohi is a senior law lecturer at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. Formerly lead researcher for the Improving Pasifika Legal Education Project, Mele has worked as Manager of the Parliamentary Law and Practice team of the Office of the Clerk in the New Zealand Parliament, Chief Executive of the Ministry of Justice – Tonga, and a law lecturer at the University of the South Pacific. She has held senior leadership roles in the Tonga public service particularly in the Ministry of Justice, Crown Law Office, Public Service Commission and the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. She is a leading scholar on Tongan constitutional law and has a PhD in law from the University of Otago. She completed her LLM from Queen Mary University, London and LLB from the University of the South Pacific.
Grant Amount
$10,000 in 2024 to support travel
“The Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation has provided me with an opportunity to gain firsthand experience in promoting racial justice and inclusivity in the United States of America, and to build contacts and collaboration internationally.”