In Lydia's own words, she was a "naive and shy" teenager when
chosen as one of the first three First Foundation Scholars. At
school she did well in Mathematics, excelled at Sport and was a
role model for other students as a Peer Mediator and Peer Sexuality
support. In 1997 she won the Academic Cup for her year level.
Despite not having the funds, it was Lydia's hope to study at
university and graduate with a degree.
Through work expereince at Fletcher Aluminium, Lydia was exposed
to the workforce and gained a number of transferable and valuable
skills. She deeply appreciates the support that Fletcher and First
Foundation gave her during her Scholarship which enabled her to
achieve her goal to attend university. Lydia graduted from AUT in
2004 with a Bachelors Degree in Business.
Since completeing her Scholarship and degree, Lydia has worked for
Progressive Enterprises, Tower Portfolio, ASB Securities, and was a
founding employee of the business, Rent Plus. She is particularly
passionate about her current role as Business Service Manager for
community health service provider Vaka Tautua. "I feel like I am
giving back to the community," she says. Lydia is based in Auckland
and outside of work takes great delight in her daughter who was
born in 2011.