Tax Traders are thrilled to announce that Tutanekai Brown (Manurewa High School) and Iliganoa Liki (Avondale College) have been awarded the Tax Traders Cultivate Technology Scholarship. This scholarship has been designed to create a pathway for school leavers with a passion for technology who may otherwise face barriers to entry to tertiary education.
To celebrate their incredible achievement, Tutanekai and Iliganoa joined us for a special ceremony in the Tax Traders and Taxi office last week, along with their whānau and friends.
Tutanekai and Iliganoa were carefully chosen from a shortlist of 15 incredible young people interviewed in October as part of this year’s selection process.
More about this year’s recipients
Tutanekai attends Manurewa High School and is passionate about coding, artificial intelligence, and contemporary dance.
He wants to use his skills in coding and technology to create a platform for equal-access education designed specifically to complement a person’s strengths and weaknesses.
When we met Tutanekai in October, he impressed us with his dedication and genuine love of all things tech.
Tutanekai will be the first in his family to go to university, and we are honoured to be part of his journey.
Iliganoa attends Avondale College and has a passion for cybersecurity and coding.
During a recent visit to the Pacific Island nation, she was disheartened by the lack of technological infrastructure and the high cost of internet access.
This experience further inspired her goal to make advanced technology widely available in Samoa and remove barriers to access both here and further afield.
She is incredibly driven and very involved in her community. We are thrilled to support her in this next stage of her education.
About the Cultivate Technology Scholarship
The Cultivate Technology Scholarship, now in its third year, was created in partnership with Taxlab.
At Tax Traders, we are committed to enhancing diversity of thought in the technology industry so that the sector can better reflect and serve every person, not just a subsection of the population. We believe the Cultivate Technology Scholarship plays an important role in this.
Each year, two recipients are awarded the scholarship to assist with tertiary study.
Last year’s recipients were Paetin Huch, an aspiring video game developer, and Munro Portinari, who is interested in pursuing a career in cyber security.
In 2022, the scholarship was awarded to Toma Mirchevska, an engineering student at the University of Auckland, and Fusi Mataele, an information technology student at the Manukau Institute of Technology.