Mai Chen discusses the transformation of Auckland Council and the future of local government. Key themes include affordable housing and the Housing Accord, the Auckland Unitary Plan, transport, the review of the role of the CCOs, demographic changes and the Council’s relationship with central government.
Mai Chen is a legal expert, best-selling author, successful entrepeneur, a company director and an adjunct professor of law. Born in Taiwan, she is Managing Partner at Chen Palmer Public and Employment Law Specialists and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Auckland School of Law.
Mai published Transforming Auckland: The Creation of Auckland Council in 2014 . More recently she completed the "Superdiversity Stocktake: Implications for Business, Government and New Zealand" published on the Superdiversity Centre for Law, Policy and Business website, which has been downloaded over 100,000 times.
She was named in the Top 50 Diversity Figures in Pulic Life in the Global Diversity List 2016 affiliated with the Global Diversity Awards, supported by The Economist.
Mai is also a BNZ board director, chair of New Zealand Asian Leaders, inaugural Chair of NZ Global Women and was a top 10 finalist in the 2014 and 2016 New Zealand of the Year Awards.
She has a first class law honours degree from Otago University and a Masters degree from Harvard Law School.
