Mele Wendt (BA, DipTchg, CertMgt, CertIoD) has over 24 years of governance experience and 17 years of leadership/management experience. Her roles have included being a high school teacher, the founding pacific islands liaison officer and manager of domestic student recruitment at Victoria University, and then the executive director of Fulbright NZ for ten years.

Mele currently does a mix of governance and consultancy work. Her current boards include Te Kura (the Correspondence School), Toi Mai Workforce Development Council, the Real Estate Authority, Tāwhiri: Festivals and Experiences, Wellington Community Fund, and chairing Community Governance NZ. She provides consultancies in governance training, Pacific peoples’ development, organisational capacity building, scholarships management, and mentoring.

Mele is a member of various professional and community groups and she is a White Ribbon Ambassador. In January 2019, she was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to governance, the Pacific community and women.

Mele is Samoan (Malie, Vaiala, Lefaga) and palagi (NZ, Britain), and has lived in Wellington for over 30 years. She is married to Eteuati Ete and they have four grown-up children and four grandchildren.