Awatea (Ngāti Pikiao/Ngāti Porou) is a formerly incarcerated justice advocate and lived experience scholar. Awatea attended the first convening of the international network for formerly incarcerated women and girls in Colombia last year as an Aotearoa New Zealand representative. She uses her lived experience of incarceration to amplify the voices of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women. She currently sits on the Te Ngapara Centre for Restorative Justice Advisory Board and the Services and Strategies Portfolio Board with Corrections as a full voting member. Awatea is a criminology masters candidate with interests in settler colonialism, Māori justice and mātauranga Māori.