Making a big impact in a short time
Free trade agreements, AI software, disability advocacy, health economics, professional rugby, technology law, classical history, sustainability – this year’s 20Twenties Young Alumni Award winners reach across an incredibly diverse range of professions, research and communities.
Already making their mark across Aotearoa and globally, the 2024 award recipients share a passion for their chosen fields and a strong commitment to making a positive impact in their work and through their advocacy.
The 20Twenties awards celebrate graduates in their twenties who have demonstrated outstanding achievements, contributed widely to their communities, or have shown exceptional leadership in their personal or professional lives. Nominations for the awards are received from the wider Otago alumni community, friends, employers and colleagues.
Alumni Engagement Manager, Donnella Aitken-Ferguson, says the University is extremely proud of all that the 2024 award winners have achieved since graduating from Otago.
“In such a short time, these young alumni have made extraordinary contributions to their fields and their communities,” says Donnella.
“Alongside ground-breaking work within their professions, their caring, community-focussed contribution to our wider society is inspirational.”
20Twenties award recipient Susie McKenzie says she was surprised and honoured to learn she had been selected for the award.
Since finishing her Master of Economics at Otago in 2018, Susie has worked for the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, modelling labour market impacts of the automation of jobs, and the impacts of free trade agreements.
Returning to New Zealand, she worked at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise, modelling the impacts of subsidies and duties on imports and exports. Now at the Treasury, she has been working on the Overseas Investment Act, free trade agreements, modelling New Zealand’s exposure to international shocks and forecasting the impacts of tax changes.
“My Economics degree from Otago has been crucial to every job I have had since leaving University,” says Susie.
“My work has been varied, but always following the same theme of incorporating economic theory and technical analysis in advice to Ministers as much as possible to increase capability for economic analysis. Without my degree from Otago, I wouldn't have been able to do any of these jobs!”
20Twenties Young Alumni Award winners for 2024
Joshua Gaioka Ali’ifa’alogo.
Joshua Gaioka Ali’ifa’alogo, BA (Geography) 2018, Master of International Development and Planning 2022
Josh has been part of Otago’s successful Dare to Succeed Homework movement launched in 2008, working together with Pacific communities and churches, helping parents and their children to make informed decisions on their study options and education in general.
He himself is a successful product of this supportive environment and has gone on to mentor and tutor many youth members from his community.
Josh graduated with Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Geography, and a Master of International Development and Planning, and is now a Researcher with Moana Connect, making an important contribution to Pasifika research and his community. Moana Connect is a South Auckland-based organisation dedicated to connecting Pasifika people across Aotearoa, focussing on community, learning and research services.
Christian Lio-Willie, BDS 2021
Christian Lio-Willie.
Christian is of Samoan descent and came to Otago to become a physiotherapist, but chose to pursue Dentistry upon learning of the limited Pacific representation in the dental workforce.
A talented rugby player, in his fourth year he was selected for the Otago A-team, a team he still represents in the National Provincial Championship (NPC).
After five years training to be a dentist, Christian was one of nine Pacific students to graduate with a Bachelor of Dental Surgery in December of 2021. That year he was also nominated for the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRPA) 2021 personal development awards.
Since graduating, Christian debuted for the Highlanders in 2022, and received a two-year contract with the Crusaders as an openside flanker. Alongside his rugby career, he has persevered with his dentistry commitments in order to keep his licence active, continuing his professional development at a dental clinic in Christchurch.
Christian also gives his time to advise university students who, like him, play semi-professional rugby, stressing the importance of getting a degree behind them as they progress with their rugby careers and navigate balance.
In 2024, the Pacific Sciences team approached Christian with the idea of offering a talk to Pacific students currently engaged in professional sport about how to manage these two important yet demanding activities. In August 2024, “Study and Rugby: Navigating Rugby and Study with Christian Lio-Willie” was offered, and well received by students.
Susie McKenzie (nee Campbell).
Susie McKenzie (nee Campbell) MEcon (Dist) 2018, BSc (Economics) 2016
Susie completed her Bachelor of Science in 2016 and in the same year was awarded the University of Otago Scholarship in Science, and the Student Leadership Award.
Her master’s thesis provided new perspectives on the issue of understanding why some countries are so rich while others are so poor, which is one of the most important challenges facing social science, with significant implications for well-being and welfare.
The ideas presented in her work were developed into a research paper, which was published in Economic Modelling journal and cited in a study published by Nature, the world’s leading multidisciplinary science journal, as well as in World Bank reports.
After completing her master’s, Susie spent a year at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in Santiago, Chile, working on technological growth, trade diversification and economic integration for Latin America.
She returned to New Zealand and worked for three years on NZ’s trade remedies regime and also took up a significant role on NZ’s APEC host year, where she worked in the Economic Committee managing international relationships and progressing initiatives important to NZ on the world stage.
For the last three years, Susie has been working for the Treasury, where she has focused on multiple free trade agreements, worked on matters relating to public finance, and most recently, developed macroeconomic models both for tax forecasting and to assess how vulnerable NZ is to economic shocks.
Sean Prenter.
Sean Prenter BA (Politics) 2013
Sean’s navigation of his traumatic brain injury that occurred in his first year of study, has shaped his sense of community through the support he was offered, and his motivation to give back.
He has gained international recognition for his advocacy work and research on accessibility, notably representing New Zealand at the Global Disability Summit 2022.
Sean served as a New Zealand representative for the Pacific Disability Forum’s Youth Committee in 2023, and has attended regional conferences and ministerial forums, where he has advocated for accessible education and inclusivity across the Pacific.
His volunteering reaches across the world, including in his time in Southeast Asia, where he taught English and meditation to children in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand with the Otago Peace Club.
Sean also volunteered at the Berlin Special Olympic Games in 2023, and in 2024, he earned the Prime Minister’s Scholarship for the Reimagining India Study Tour, furthering his understanding of inclusive and sustainable development.
At a national level, in his second term as Co-President of the National Disabled Students’ Association (NDSA), he has been instrumental in shaping policies that are adopted to support disabled students. This stems from being a founding member of the Otago Disabled Students’ Association and also as Co-President in his final full year at the University.
He serves on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority Learner Wellbeing & Safety Advisory Group and the Tertiary Education Commission’s Student Learner and Advisory Group.
Sean’s previous research has helped critique disability inclusion across sustainable solutions to transport, holding an internship with the Transportation Group drawing on best practices in the U.K. and United States.
He also led an accessibility audit for the University of Otago Sustainability Office and contributed to projects that incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals with a focus on disability inclusion.
In recognition of his leadership, Sean was awarded the Matariki Global Citizenship Certificate in 2021 and the University of Otago Student Leadership Award in 2023. He is also an active member of the Asia New Zealand Foundation Leadership Network.
Fiona Seal.
Fiona Seal LLM (Dist) 2021, LLB 2020, BA (Classics) 2020
Fiona is a published author in the field of classical history through the Aisthesis undergraduate journal for classical studies at Stanford University in the United States, where her essay on the legal power of Roman businesswomen in ancient history was received with praise.
She has an upcoming book project with the University of Edinburgh where a chapter of her LLM master’s thesis will be used as part of a worldwide textbook on Technology Law. A known speaker on this topic, she has spoken on AI and Technology Law at multiple conferences.
For her second master’s, Fiona completed an LLM of International Business Law at Panthéon-Sorbonne University of Paris France, where she delivered seminars on New Zealand trade relations to an international audience of legal academics. Fiona received high honours and graduated cum laude. She was the first New Zealander to complete this programme and having done so has shone a light on the value of a New Zealand candidates in international programmes at the Sorbonne, paving the way for future candidates.
She was New Zealand’s delegate for the Korea National Diplomatic Academy on the subject of international law and has worked as a lawyer for the Commerce Commission in the prosecution of unfair trading practices and the regulation of industries such as electricity and gas. Currently she is the Legal Counsel for Rocket Lab, the aerospace company.
Kate Verschaffelt.
Kate Verschaffelt, PGDip Clinical Pharmacy 2023, PGCert Pharmacy 2023
Kate works as a ward-based clinical pharmacist at Tauranga Hospital, providing clinical advice to doctors. She also monitors patient-specific prescribing, identifies medication errors, and optimises treatment regimes. In 2021-2023 while completing her diploma, Kate worked as a Clinical Pharmacist Facilitator for the Southern Primary Healthcare Organisation WellSouth, advising General Practitioners from more than 70 general practices on medication optimisation.
While working for WellSouth, Kate regularly travelled to rural areas of Southern communities and worked collaboratively with Pacific Trust Otago, engaging with Pacific patients and families. Currently, she prioritises one day a week at Whakatāne Hospital, which serves a predominantly Māori population.
These roles have allowed her to partner with patients, across the country, through building relationships, educating, and providing medicines advice. This empowers patients and whānau to better understand their health, ensuring better medication adherence and therefore improved health outcomes.
Motivated to improve health through education and the improvement of health systems and service delivery, at Tauranga Hospital Kate has been testing an e-prescribing system. This will enable improved efficiency and safety of hospital-wide prescribing from the current paper-based system.
In 2022, Kate was involved with the co-design of medication optimisation services with Pacific Trust Otago, to provide more appropriate services for Pacific patients. In 2019, she published research titled “Designing and Evaluating Virtual Patient Simulation - The Journey from Uniprofessional to Interprofessional Learning”, aiming to improve interprofessional cohesion, shown to enhance healthcare delivery.
Kate has volunteered significantly through St John as an ambulance officer and events volunteer and as a Friend of the Emergency Department.
In 2022, she was awarded a scholarship by McKinsey & Company to attend the New Zealand Future Leaders Forum in Auckland, and in 2023 received the Women Leaders Institute Scholarship, to attend the NZ Women in Leadership Summit.
Andrew Wierda.
Andrew Wierda LLB 2023
Andrew is the founder and Managing Director of Law Cyborg, an artificial intelligence (AI) software company that was established in Auckland in 2023, to deliver a range of AI-powered tools that make it easier for New Zealand accounting and law professionals to access and interpret relevant information, and streamline their workflows.
The company’s AI systems consider and deliver content from New Zealand legislation, case law, commentary, government publications, procedural documents and other pre-verified information. At the time of writing, Law Cyborg’s technology is used by more than 400 firms across New Zealand.