
Falapepe & Epaepa

Meet the Team
Dr. Tafili Utumapu-McBride
O lo’u igoa o Tafili Utumapu-McBride, sa ou fanau i Samoa. Mai le lua o o’u tausaga sa tausi ma fa’aā’oga a’u e o’u mātua iinei i Niu Sila.
O nu’u o lo’u tamā o Safotu ma Lepea, ae o nu’u o lo’u tinā o Levi Saleimoa, Apolima ma Siumu. Ou te fiafia tele e su’esu’e e fa’alaua’itele ai lo’u iloa, ma o si o’u tamā na fa’amālosi’au i a’u taumafaiga.
O le tele o taimi ou te fiafia e nofonofo ma faitau tusi i le fale tusi. Ua ova ma le 30 tausaga o o’u galue I Iunivesite, sa fesoasoani ma faiāoga ai mo tamaiti Pasefika (e 18 tausaga sa a’oa’oina ai latou e fia faiāoga i Aoga Amata Pasefika ma aoga Tulaga Lua a le Mālo).
O la’u PhD o se ulua’i su’esu’ega i Aoga Amata a Samoa i Aukilani ma lona aogā mo aiga.
O lea oute faigaluega i le Iunivesite fa’a Tekonolosi a Aukilani e faiāoga ma su’esu’e i matatā tau Pasefika, aemaise le fa’atāuaina o le tatou fa’asinomaga.
Tafili Utumapu-McBride was born in Samoa, and was raised and educated in Aotearoa NZ from the age of two. She has ancestral ties to Safotu, Levi Saleimoa, Apolima, Siumu and Lepea.
With the love of learning and inspiration from her father, she found her calling in the library. She has spend over 30+ years working in tertiary institutions, mentoring and teaching Pacific students (including 18 years in Pacific ECE/ITE). Her PhD was the first to research into Samoan Language Nests and their impact on families. She is currently the BEd Core Programme Leader and Pacific Specialty Co-ordinator at AUT University. She teaches and researches in Pacific pedagogy, and the nurturing of our Samoan cultural identity (especially raising Samoan/Palagi twin daughters).






Associate Professor Jacoba Matapo
O Jacoba, o ona tua’a e tupuna mai Siumu i Samoa ma Leiden i Holland. Ua ova ma le 15 tausaga o galue fa’ata’ita’i i totonu o a’oa’oga, aemaise le a’otauina o faiaoga I totonu o Iunivesite ma pulega i totonu o Aoga Amata. Na ia ta’ita’ia poloketi I a’oa’oga fa’a-Pasefika, e fa’atāua ai le tofāmanino o le tagata i tau aoaoga I Iunivesite.
E loloto lona tomai i galuega e mamanu i le fa’atekonolosi. O Jacoba e lagolago i le mataupu ta’u le Te Tiriti o Waitangi, e ala i le fa’aaogāina lea o tῡ ma aga fa’a-Maoli i ana galuega. O se vaega tāua tele aemaise o feso’otaiga vāvālalata ma tagata Pasefika, o se auala e fa’aalualu ai i luma faiva o fa’atufugaga e talafeagai i aganu’u o lo’o i ai i Niu Sila.
O ana tautua i su’esu’ega o faiva fa’afaufautua i le Matāgaluega o Aoga (Ministry of Education), Te Whatu Ora (Ministry of Health) fa’apea galuega fa’afaufautua i le TLRI (Teaching and Learning Research Initiative).
Jacoba Matapo has ancestral ties to Siumu Samoa, and Leiden Holland. She has over 15 years in educational leadership, spanning ITE and ECE management. She has led key Pasifika education projects, anchoring Pacific philosophy for student success.
Adept in digital design, she facilitated research collaborations like the wayfinding Pasifika success project. Jacoba seeks to uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi, integrating Tikanga and Kaupapa Māori into her practice and valuing the historical ties between Tangata Whenua and Tangata Moana. Jacoba is deeply invested in Pacific ECE nationwide and advancing culturally responsive teaching across New Zealand.
My Pacific research affiliations include advisory roles with MoE (Pacific) and Whatu Ora, and I serve as a research advisor for TLRI.
Salā Pafitimai Dr Fa’asaulala Tagoilelagi-Leota
O a’u o se tinā o fanau e toatolu ma o se tinā matua i nai o’u mālu e toatolu. O lo’o ou faigaluega nei i le Matāgaluega a Tagata Atumotu (Ministry for Pacific Peoples) i vaega tai Su’esu’ega ma Iloiloga. O lo’o ou galue foi i poloketi o le feso’otaiga fa’a-eleele i gagana tusitusi ma le faitau (indigenous literacy) mai le Matāgaluega o Aoaoga (MOE), poloketi mai le Ministry of Social Development ma le Te Whatu Ora (Ministry of Health).
O lo’o ou faufautua i se vaega o lo’o gaosia tusi faitau mo tamaiti o lo’o a’o’oga i vasega e fa’aāoga ai gagana e lua (bilingual education). Sa fai fo’i lo’u fa’atauva’a ma sui o Pasefika e fautua i le amataina o le Kowhiti Whakapae fa’apea lona fa’aaogaina i totonu o Aoga Amata a Niu Sila.
Sa tautua fa’ata’ita’ifono i le Sosaiete o Aoga Amata i Aotearoa i le 12 tausaga. Sa ou faiāoga i le a’otauina o faiaoga i Iunivesite mo le 20 tausaga na i’u ai ina fai ma ta’ita’i o polokalame fa’a-faiaoga Pasefika i totonu o iunivesite. Ua so’o fo’i Niu Sila o tautua i galuega fa’afouina (professional development) mo Aoga Amata Pasefika ma Aoga Amata a pālalagi (generic).
O se matāti’a tāua ia te a’u o lo’u fai lea ma sui o Aoga Amata o le Pasefika, e molimoli finagalo ma luitau i totonu o le palemene a Niu Sila i le matāupu o le IELTs. Ou te sau mai i Vatia ma Fagasa i Amerika Samoa, faapea Vaiala, Moata’a, Sapunaoa ma Leauva’a. O o’u matua sa faifeau EFKS i Vailoatai (Amerika Samoa), Lalomanu ma Magele Sasa’e I Niu Sila. Ou te lotu I le EFKS Otahuhu.
Salā Pafitimai Dr Faasaulala Tagoilelagi-Leota hails from the villages of Vatia in American Samoa, Vaiala, Sapunaoa and Leauvaa in Samoa. She is a principal analyst in the Ministry for Pacific Peoples Research and Evaluation team. Sala is the initial developer of the tautai research framework that has been used for a project in the RE unit and is adopted by the Research and Insights team as its research framework. Salā has taught and led Pacific ECE programmes at tertiary level for over 20 years, and at least 10 years servicing early childhood centres as a Professional Development facilitator in New Zealand, Samoa, Hawaii,
and Indonesia.
A co-editor of the inaugural Samoan ECE text named O Pelega o Fanau, Sala was selected to be a panelist for the Prime Minister’s Excellence Awards in Education for a year.
With a wealth of cultural intelligence, Sala has written on how her Samoan culture contributes to the Aoga Amata space. A former chair and director of SAASIA Inc for over 10 years, Salā has three children and three grandchildren. All are born in NZ and she ensures they are all proficient speakers of gagana Samoa.

Our Advisors
Tofilau Nina Kirifi-Alai QSM
Tofilau Nina Kirifi-Alai is the Tula Malae Pasefika – Head, Pacific Community Engagement,
University of Otago, based in Auckland. She is Samoan, and holds the high chief title of
Tofilau. She is a graduate from the University of Auckland with a BA (Women’s Studies)
and a Bachelor of Laws. Also a graduate of the University of Otago with a Master of
Indigenous Studies (with credit). She was honoured with a Queens Services Medal during the
New Year’s Honours 2023. Tofilau is the Chair of the Association of Pacific Staff in Tertiary
Education (APSTE) 2020-2025. She is a grandmother and a published poet and is currently
working on her first book of poems.


Vini Afutoto Lale Peteru
Aiga ma Nu’u (Tamā) Matāvai-le-luaa’ipouomalo Fasito’outa; Lotoso’a Saleimoa; Matāutu Falelatai; Faleasi’u; Lalomanu Aleipata; Saleilua ma Vaovai Falealili; Sapapalii ma Lalomalava i Savaii. (Tinā) Matautu Lefaga; Safa’ato’a Lefaga; Faleasi’u; Poutasi Falealili; Sataoa; Siumu; Matailiili Fasito’outa; Lano i Savaii.
Married to Rev. Iosefa Lale Peteru; we have 4 children and 3 grandchildren.
O na i tu’e o le tōloga - Education/Academic Programme History
1973 – 1977 Samoa College
1982 – 1985 Malua Theological College
Manukau Institute of Technology
2007 Certificate in Social Work, Level 4
2008 – 2010 Bachelor of Applied Social Work
University of Auckland
Programme: Graduate Diploma in Theology – Specialisation in Theology
2011 – 2012
Programme: Postgraduate Diploma in Theology – Specialisation in Practical Theology
2012 – 2013
Programme: Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work – Specialisation in Social Work
2014
Programme: Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Supervision – Specialisation in Supervision
2015 – 2016
Sefulu Kalolo
Sefulu Kalolo was born in March 1940 in Alamagoto, Western Samoa. Sefulu migrated to NZ with her husband, Falani Kalolo in 1981. She is a doting mother of 8, grandmother of 42 and a great-grandmother of 15. Sefulu has lived in Auckland with her family since migrating to NZ and is actively involved in the Tokelau community. Sefulu's knowledge extends to Tokelau traditional weaving where some of her works are proudly displayed at the Auckland Museum.
Sefulu is currently working on an Epaepa (traditional Tokelauan baby mat) made with traditional materials that are only available from Tokelau. The mat itself is portable and can be taken anywhere. The Epaepa can consist of various
colours and patterns encapsulating the weaver's creative style and/or your family's distinct mamanu (design). It only takes a few days to make an Epaepa
