Marlene’s story
2021 Scholarship Recipient
After identifying a passion for cybersecurity, Marlene Aliitasi Sua is transferring from the Eastern Institute of Technology in Hawke’s Bay to Victoria University of Wellington, where she will major in computer science with a specialisation in cybersecurity. Aliitasi particularly enjoys the offensive security aspect of cybersecurity and hopes to be able to influence New Zealand’s decision-making regarding practices or policies that may negatively impact the privacy of New Zealanders – especially Pacific and Māori. “As a person of Sāmoan descent, I’d like to role model and reflect to other Pacific people, particularly women and gender minorities, that the technology industry is a space that we belong and can excel within.”