Roimata Claasen - Legal
Joined the board: May 2020
Role: Legal Director
Length of time with the network: 2 years
Roimata (Ngāti Porou – Ngai Tāne, Te Whānau-a-Hinepare) is an experienced legal advisor and business partner. She is motivated by a desire to fill up her basket of knowledge and experience and to contribute to the development and wellbeing of her iwi and hapū.
Roimata started out as a corporate / commercial lawyer at a top tier law firm in New Zealand, where she worked with iwi and Māori organisations to create innovative corporate structures and robust governance processes.
Roimata now works for the largest food and beverage company in the world, working closely with executives and senior management in the UK and Ireland to appropriately assess legal and reputational risk to inform strategic and tactical decision making.
In 2020, Roimata was accepted to the University of Oxford to pursue a Master of Business Administration, where she intends to explore the fields of social impact and responsible business. She is particularly interested to explore how iwi and Māori organisations can better balance commercial objectives with obligations to iwi members, past, present and future.
Having completed the network’s leadership mentoring programme, Roimata understands first-hand the value of the network in encouraging and uplifting New Zealand women. She is excited by this opportunity to give back to the network, and in her role as Legal Director is focused on legal and internal compliance, as well as ethical decision, centred on doing the right thing.
Roimata grew up in Rangitukia, on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws (with honours) from the University of Auckland, and is a proud graduate of Kohanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa.
Roimata moved to London in 2017 with her husband. As well as working with our network, she is also Secretary of Ngāti Rānana London Māori Club.