Young New Zealander of the Year Namulau'ulu Nu'uali'i Eteroa Lafaele. Photo: Supplied
Samoan tech expert Namulau'ulu Nu'uali'i Eteroa Lafaele (Fogapoa, Leulumoega Tuai, Lefaga) achieved a major milestone last Thursday when she was named Young New Zealander of the Year.
The prestigious award celebrates exceptional changemakers across seven categories, with winners selected by a panel of judges.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Lafaele founded Digi Tautua, an initiative that provided refurbished devices to families in need.
In the past three years, she has gained widespread recognition as a co-founder of Fibre Fale, a platform dedicated to creating tech pathways for Pacific communities.
Lafaele's other accolades include being named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Social Impact, Young IT Professional of the Year, and receiving the NZ Hi-Tech Young Achiever Award.
While she has achieved a lifetimes worth of accolades, Lafaele's career jump was quite the risk.
'I wanted to give back'
Lafaele was born in the "place of champions" in Cannons Creek, Porirua, and lived there for 18 years before moving to Auckland and pursuing a computer science degree at Auckland University of Technology.
Even at university, she knew that the sucess of Pacific communities would be a priority in her career.
Following university, Lafaele worked as a developer evangelist for Xero, a role she described as "amazing," but one that ultimately didn't "fill her cup."
"I learned so much, but I still felt unfulfilled. Every day from nine-to-five, I was helping others, yet I kept thinking, 'What about my people?'" Lafaele said.
She clearly remembered the moment where she decided to take the leap and pursue Fibre Fale.
"The turning point came during a redundancy. I was sitting there, crying [and] feeling like I had worked so hard for this, only to find myself at a crossroads."
It was then, by the Yarra River, talking with co-founder Julia Arnott-Neenee, that she made the life-changing decision.
"I was baptised by that river, to make a choice. To leave my job at Xero and pursue Fibre Fale."
Lafaele acknowledged that taking the risk and jumping into the unknown wasn't an easy decision, joking that she did not have a 'trust fund' to fall back on.
"I had to educate my family and say, 'I'm making a big move.' Many stay loyal to their jobs for decades, but I had to break the mold and another version of what self-determination looks like, not just in my community, but in my family too."
At its core, Fibre Fale aims to amplify Pasifika people in tech. It builds a community of tech professionals and aspiring leaders, offering the skills, resources, and experiences to help them thrive.They offer both in-person and online programmes.
In person, they host fonos and leadership camps. Online, their Tautai tech skills series provides essential industry knowledge and tips. They also run masterclasses, including an AI-focused session this year.
"Fibre Fale isn't just an organisation, it's a movement for our Pasifika peoples-and others-to understand the power of our thinking," Lafaele said.
'In tech, solutions are often linear, but we offer many more, shaped by our ancestral knowledge and how we've navigated the world."
Fibre Fale: Namulau’ulu Nu’uali’i Eteroa Lafaele (left) and Julia Arnott-Neenee (right). Photo: Fibre Fale / fibrefale.com
Success and barriers
Lafaele said that Pacific communities face significant barriers in accessing education and technology, and that Fibre Fale's ethos is grounded in Pacific values, to resonate with their audience.
"Our values are tautua, aiga, justice, and lumanai'i," she said. 'Navigating our careers in tech, these value stuck with us.'
She credited Fibre Fale's small, but dynamic team - herself, CEO Julia Arnott-Neenee, and Digital Director Saphron Matamua - for their unique strengths and collective success in creating pathways for Pacific communities..
"Julia is our strategic lead; she sees the vision and ensures we stay on track to hit ourmission. Saphron leads digital media, and she holds the key to what it means to operate in the new way of business in this digital age. As a software engineer, I bring relevance in an ever-evolving tech world," Lafaele said.
'The base of our success is our team, and that fact we are very mission-led. We value our work and are high-performing because our people deserve the best."
Though the team is a mix of Gen Z-Millennials, their impact goes beyond younger generations.
"Our work is intergenerational, reaching older people who've never had this kind of support.
"We've had a group of 50-year-olds, and it has a flow-on effect. Because if aunty, uncle, mum, dad, and those kids can see they are determined in tech, it gives them aspirations and a choice that they too can see themselves in the industry."
Eteroa Lafaele presenting for the Tourism Industry Aotearoa Photo: Tourism Industry Aotearoa
Looking to the future, Lafaele said that the Fibre Fale team are focused on this years new AI masterclass.
Currently, the extension of the world's current digital divide is the artificial intelligence (AI) divide.
For those who do not understand, the AI divide is the gap between those that do, and do not use it.
The only way you can acess AI is if you have accessibility in a device, where you can get into that technology.
"We've noticed very fast, that the gap is actually getting bigger. We've been working hard to create resources and support our community.
"I will be the teacher, going through both technical and non-technical things, to seriously equip the foundation for our peoples and anyone, in this realm of AI.
"All of this work with our community. It's beautiful, and just amazing."
