Amie Maga is one of the founding members of Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand, a grassroots community organisation that has been working for the protection and promotion of Filipino migrant workers’ rights and welfare for 15 years now. She also assisted the founding of women’s group Gabriela Aotearoa in 2023. As Trust Manager of Migrant Action Trust, Amie leads a small, dedicated team in running free employment-readiness workshops, immigration support sessions, one-on-one coaching and wellbeing support for migrants and former refugees. Amie enjoys working with fellow community volunteers who share her passion to ensure that Filipino community members who are most vulnerable to migrant workers exploitation, employment and settlement challenges in Aotearoa are given the right information and support.

Geoff Wood is a global educator who honed his attitudes and actions during a seven-year stint in the Philippines in the late 70's - early 80's. He currently teaches (23 years) at Rosmini College, a boys school located in Takapuna. In 2015 the idea to create a "club" for the Filipino students attending the College was launched. Geoff taught and was the Director of Physical Education, Activities and Sport at the International School. He was also an adjunct faculty member at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and taught for sixteen years at Washington State University.

Francisco Hernandez brings his passion for climate change issues and his background in political activism and public service to the Green Party Caucus. Francisco was born in Manila, Philippines, and migrated to Aotearoa when he was twelve years old, settling in West Auckland. At Otago University, he completed a Master’s degree and was elected President of the Otago University Students Association, where he implemented programmes to deliver free breakfasts for students using surplus food: blunting the sharp edges of student poverty while also reducing food waste. Before entering Parliament in 2024, Francisco’s public service career included stints at the Climate Change Commission working on plans to reduce waste, ACC, and the Tertiary Education Commission. He also led the Otago Regional Council’s response to climate change, including the development of a regional climate strategy and the creation of a regional working group on climate change issues. A lifelong climate activist, Francisco was one of the youth leaders selected for the New Zealand Youth Delegation to the Paris Climate Talks in 2015, which set up the United Nations Paris Agreement on Climate Change. He has also been involved with Aotearoa climate activist group Generation Zero, who helped develop and campaign for the world leading Zero Carbon Act. As the first progressive Filipino-Kiwi MP, Fran is passionate about standing up for public services, protecting the role of tertiary education as a public good, and supporting emergency management and response work to protect people and nature from climate change and other natural disasters.

Nina Santos is a lawyer (BA/LLB[Hons]), campaigner and advocate for ethnic communities, migrants’ rights and intersectional gender equity. A semi-finalist for Young New Zealander of the Year 2023, her lived experience as a first-generation Filipina migrant fuel her to champion fair pay, anti-racism and women’s rights across Aotearoa. Nina is currently a Solicitor at E tū - the largest private sector trade union in New Zealand representing thousands of workers across multiple sectors. Prior to legal practice, she was the head of Advocacy and Communications at YWCA Tāmaki Makaurau, a long-standing non-profit for women. Notably, Nina was Delivery Manager for MindTheGap - a national award-winning campaign for pay transparency legislation to address gender and ethnic pay gaps. Recognised for her thought leadership, she was on the Board of the NZ National Council of Women and is a spokesperson for Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga, a social change alliance in Auckland focused on addressing the drivers of poverty. Nina is committed to amplifying the inequities faced by marginalised communities.

Prof. Camille Nakhid is from Trinidad and Tobago. She has a BSc in Chemistry from New York, and completed a Diploma in Secondary Teaching in Chemistry and Mathematics, a Masters in Education Administration (Hons), a Postgraduate Certificate in Emergency Management and a Doctor of Education (EdD). Camille has done research into culturally relevant research methodologies, queer ethnic communities, family and community among Pasifika youth, factors impacting on migrant resettlement, and Māori and Pasifika educational achievement. In 2018, Camille was recognised for her services to ethnic communities and education in the New Year Honours List, becoming a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Dr. Linetto Basilone is a Lecturer in Global Studies at the University of Auckland. He specializes in the study of cross-cultural encounters, identity construction, and political discourse in literature. Prior to moving to New Zealand, Lio taught Italian Studies at the University of the Philippines. Lio is also the author of The Distance to China (Peter Lang, 2022) and he is currently engaged in a monographic work on José Rizal and decoloniality.

Dr. Eunice Faustino Gaerlan is a Senior Lecturer in AUT’s School of Education and leads their Master and Postgraduate Diploma of Teaching and Learning programmes. Eunice is passionate about supporting pre-service teachers in their journey to becoming registered teachers in Aotearoa. She is on the TEFANZ executive committee, the national teacher education association in NZ. Eunice's research intersects the fields of sociology, filipinx studies, gifted and talented education, girlhood studies and media studies. She is the BiPOC board representative for Gender and Education Association, an international organisation focused on research and advocacy for gender equality and serves on the Women on Campus executive committee at AUT.

Dr. Harold Aquino holds a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Massey University School of Built Environment and serves as a Professional Teaching Fellow specializing in Disaster Management and Resilience at the University of Auckland. Prior to this, he was an Associate Professor in Civil Engineering at the University of the Philippines Diliman and was director of the university’s Building Research Centre. His expertise lies in the nexus of engineering design, climate and disaster resilience, and infrastructure planning. Presently, he is the Secretary of the Technical Committee on Interdisciplinary Strategic Foresight under the Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council, and an Expert Fellow with the Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. Harold’s mission is to play an integral role in making communities sustainable and resilient to the impacts of disasters and climate change.

Dr. Lovely Dizon is 1.5 gen Filipino Kiwi and completed her PhD in the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland in 2023. Her​ research focused on supporting Southeast Asian adolescents as they negotiate their ethnic identity using mixed-methods grounded theory methodology. In her day job, she is a research and evaluation advisor for Visionwest Community Trust. She also runs @amplify.nz on Instagram, which is a community that focuses on amplifying experiences of ethnic minorities in Aotearoa, particularly around experiences of mental health and early career research.