TaulapapaBrenda Heather-Latu is a New Zealand-born Samoan lawyer and a former Attorney General of Samoa. She was the first New Zealand-born Samoan to head a Government department in Apia. Heather-Latu was born in Wellington, New Zealand. She completed degrees in arts and law at Victoria University of Wellington in 1985,1986 and was admitted to the bar as a barrister and solicitor in February 1987 in Wellington, New Zealand. She worked in the Crown Law Office from 1988 until 1996, first as a Crown Counsel Assistant, followed by her appointment as a Crown Counsel in 1991. In 1996 she resigned and moved to Apia, Samoa to take up a position under the New Zealand Staffing Assistance Scheme, to assist the Samoa Attorney General. Heather-Latu then served as Attorney General of Samoa for 9 1/2 years during three consecutive terms,, making her the longest serving holder of that office to date. Heather-Latu attended Clyde Quay School in Mt Victoria in Wellington and Wellington Girls' College in Thorndon and attended the Executive Program ‘Leaders in Development’ at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2002 whilst serving as Attorney-General, and was sponsored by the New Zealand Government and the Council of Women World Leaders. Heather-Latu and her husband George Latu are partners in their family law firm Latu Lawyers in Apia. They have two children: Malaki, who is a graduate of the Queensland University of Technology and works as a civil engineer in Brisbane, Australia, and Yasmina, who attended Vaiala Beach School in Apia and Epsom Girls Grammar School in Auckland, and is currently a university student. Heather-Latu is the eldest daughter of Cuthbert Stanley Heather and Winnie Tauaneai Heather who both migrated to New Zealand in 1959 from Samoa. Her siblings are Xemos Elton Kruse Heather, and Dr Maryann Nanette Anesi Heather who is a specialist General Practitioner practising in Auckland, New Zealand. Heather-Latu also serves as Chair of the Pacific Leadership Foundation, which runs the four yearly Emerging Pacific Leaders Dialogue ‘EPLD’, and is a regional programme which seeks to enhance the leadership skills of Pacific men and women in order to build a group of alumni throughout the region who support shared values such as ethical, transparent and effective leadership which aims to benefit the communities they serve in a fair, balanced and inclusive manner. Heather-Latu was bestowed the chiefly title of ‘Taulapapa’ in 2015, which is a traditional Samoan title from the village of Fogapoa in the district of Safotulafai, Fa’asaleleaga, which is located on the island of Savai’i, Samoa. Her grandfather held the title and her mother’s brother: Taulapapa Dr Aloiamoa Anesi has held the same title since 1986. She also has blood ties to the villages of : Iva, Faleasi’u, Falealili, Leulumoega, Papa-Sataua, Sapapali’i, Apia and Manono, and through her fathers ancestor Selepa McCarthy has links to Ireland, Germany and the village of Vaie’e, and in turn through her husband Stanley Heather, has family links to the Heather family in England and New Zealand ; the Heather family of Arorangi village in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, and through Stanley’s mother Unaiki Mahanga, to the captains of two waka which brought tagata whenua to Aotearoa : the Aotea and Tainui. Her mother’s ancestor was John Herbert Penn who was born in Staffordshire, England and migrated to Stratford, New Zealand before settling in Samoa and marrying Mele Sooaemalelagi, Heather-Latu’s great great grandmother. Heather-Latu was appointed a Director of Habitat for Humanity in November 2018 Heather -Latu is a serving Judicial Officer for World Rugby. She is also the Honorary Consul for Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Samoa.
