Tuiloma Gayle Lafaiali'i
(MEd, BA)
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Tuiloma is from the villages of Sapunaoa and Lalomanu in the district of Falealili, Upolu Samoa on her mother's side and Scotland/Ireland on her dad's side, and was born in Auckland raised in Wellington and is a graduate of Victoria University.
She has over 20 years work experience in the New Zealand Tertiary Education sector, including seven years at NZQA as the Senior Advisor Pasifika.
An experienced senior leader across a range of Private Training Establishments, Tuiloma managed facilities and operations at Laidlaw College (formerly the Bible College of NZ), was General Manager at The Learning Post (an eLearning training Provider) and Academic Director at Educol.
Tuiloma is passionate about education particularly organisational structures and culture to enable learners to engage in and graduate at the highest levels of achievement, therefore improving their opportunities to secure meaningful employment.
Tuiloma is married to Toleafoa Sefa Lafaiali’i, and her other fulltime job is raising their daughter and two dogs Koko Samoa and Milo.
Crystal Fetalaiga
OFFICE MANAGER
Crystal comes from the villages of Leulumoega and Falealili in Samoa. She came to PEC with a passion for Pacific communities established from more than five years in the tertiary sector with experience in administration and teaching from BEST Pacific Institute of Education and MIT.
Prior to Education, Crystal spent 7 years in a managerial role at Auckland Airport's Thrifty Car Rentals.
"The transition to education has allowed me the opportunity to make a difference and be in the classroom where my passion for youth lies."
Crystal is a wife and mother of a beautiful daughter.
Meritiana Spandow
ACADEMIC PROGRAMME TEAM LEADER
Born and raised in Wellington but living in South Auckland for over 20 years, Meritiana on her mother’s side comes from the villages of Sapunaoa and Lalomanu in the district of Falealili, Upolu, Samoa and on her father’s side the town of Zandvoort in the Netherlands (Holland).
Meritiana has over 20 years of experience working in the Tertiary Education sector both in New Zealand and Australia, including various Private Training Establishments, Charities, the Manukau Institute of Technology and Unitec Institute of Technology.
She has extensive course curriculum design and development experience, is an adult literacy and numeracy specialist and graduate of the Wellington College of Education and Victoria University.
Enabling educational opportunities and participating in second chance learning for those in need is an area that Meritiana is passionate about. “Seeing learners succeed and achieve along with the positive impact it has on them and their wider family, make the challenges worth it”.
Meritiana’s other role is being a minister’s wife and mother to a lovely daughter.
Aleksei Tychinskii
STUDENT SERVICES
Alex was born in Belarus and moved to New Zealand in 2012 to reunite with his family who have been living in New Zealand since 2002.
He has more than 6 years general administration experience within the NZ Tertiary education sector. Alex enjoys helping students make their educational journey pleasant and joyful.
Alex has worked for Crown Institute of Studies, Dominion English Schools and Media Design School.
“I believe that a family and its history is the most important part of our life. In this dynamic world, we can easily forget who we are and where we come from. It is why it is so important to know and preserve our own culture.”