Melinda Webber is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. Melinda is the Director for the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity programme and a former Director of the Starpath Project.  Melinda has been a Fulbright/Nga Pae o te Maramatanga Indigenous Scholar and has published widely on the nature of ethnic identity development and iwi distinctiveness, examining the ways race, ethnicity, culture and identity impact the lives of young people, particularly Maori students .