Mavae Ahio

2024 Cohort

Pronouns: he/him

Mavae is a descendant of traditional navigators, owning and playing his role in a legacy that transcends values and morals, and inspires common heritage that motivates change on a journey forward as one.

Mavae is a first-generation Aotearoa/New Zealand-born Tongan, raised in a family of 11 children in Auckland. A son to Samiuela Fuifuikueli Ahio – of Kolovai and Fua’amotu, Tongatapu, Tonga – and Kesaia Pua Ngata Ahio – of Feletoa, Vava’u and Hofoa, Tongatapu. Mavae is a husband to Cassandra Ane Suemai Ahio of Samoa, and a father to Fuatausanga ‘O ‘Upolu Laki Junior Ahio and Viliamu Wesley Ahio.

Embedded with qualities of Tongan culture, and passionate about Pacific peoples and regions, Mavae has grown to appreciate the significance of being Pasifika. He has previous experience in education, employment and the health sector, and has been supporting Pacific communities in Aotearoa for over a decade.

He has experience in the mental health sector at Waitematā District Health Board, in which he was awarded Le Va Scholarship. He also currently sits on the Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel for Auckland Council, advising the Mayor, Governing Body, and Council organisation, to help improve outcomes for Pacific communities.

At the Ministry of Education, he has worked as a Principal Adviser for the Deputy Secretary of Education and is now a Senior Business Adviser for the Deputy Secretary of Education in Auckland.

Mavae is a lay preacher of the United Church of Tonga, New Zealand and is currently the Youth Leader of Tauafa’ahau.

“Our Pacific Indigenous algorithm is critical to a point of departure from the decolonising efforts and to an arrival at Pacific data sovereignty.”

Social change work

At the Ministry of Education, Mavae holds a secretariat role supporting the national Chief Adviser-Pacific. Through this role, he is involved in work to improve outcomes for Pacific children, with a commitment to transforming outcomes for Pacific learners and families more broadly. Part of this work involves mapping out how to best achieve the objective of raising collective capability and attention from the workforce on this subject. There is also an emphasis on trans-Indigenous connections, acknowledging positioning as settlers in Aotearoa with ancestral roots to the Moana and Fonua, and allowing the partnership, protection and participation of Pacific Indigenous constructs to be realised for an equitable outcome.