Jennifer Braithwaite – Barrister
Jennifer Braithwaite says her learnings around leadership ethics and actions during her Master of Social and Community Leadership have enabled her to reflect on what sort of leader she wishes to be in her legal practice, which focuses on public and administrative law, access to justice, Te Tiriti o Waitangi issues, and children and young people’s rights.
Graduate: Bachelor of Laws (Hons) First Class, Master of Laws (Hons) First Class, Master of Social and Community Leadership (Hons) First Class
Current role: Barrister
“In addition, I am a member of the New Zealand Law Society’s youth justice committee. The committee’s role is to monitor proposals that affect the operation of the youth justice system such as proposed legislative reforms.
“I’m also a trustee of the Kindness Institute, a charitable trust focused on developing, delivering and growing mindfulness and yoga-based programmes in partnership with young people. This is a governance role focused on setting the Kindness Institute’s strategic direction and monitoring performance against strategic direction and other performance targets."
What motivates me is the opportunity to use my knowledge and skills to contribute to positive change in our community and society more broadly. I really enjoy being intellectually challenged and working with other change makers who are passionate about making a difference.
Jennifer chose the Master of Social and Community Leadership for several reasons. The first was a desire to better understand social innovation and evaluation methods in order to be more effective in both her primary employment and governance roles.
“I also wanted to learn the research skills I needed to undertake an empirical research project. While I already had a Master of Laws degree, this was by taught papers rather than by thesis. I chose to study at the University of Auckland because of the design of the Master of Social and Community Leadership, the University’s international rankings, and the reputation and expertise of the faculty leading and delivering the programme.
“One of my highlights was the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by the other students in my cohort who came from a range of professional backgrounds and contexts, but were all amazing change makers. I have stayed in touch with several other students on my programme and this has led to some ongoing collaborations.
Jennifer notes that undertaking postgraduate study after working in your chosen field is very different from undergraduate study straight from high school.
“It is a great opportunity to combine your own practical knowledge and experience with insights from the faculty, research and literature. It also gives you the chance to step outside your day-to-day work and think about some of the deeper or more difficult questions that you don’t always have the space to consider otherwise.
“I would encourage others considering the Master of Social and Community Leadership or other postgraduate study to go for it. It is a great opportunity to learn new skills and deepen your knowledge. I also found that there was enough flexibility within the programme to balance it with my work commitments and to tailor it to my personal and professional interests.
“I really appreciated the ongoing support and encouragement from all the lecturers and my thesis supervisor. Collectively, the faculty brought a breadth and depth of academic expertise together with an understanding of the challenges in the community sector. They are also great people!”