Mele is a member of Georgetown University’s inaugural Master of Arts in International Migration and Refugee Studies, where she will concentrate on Humanitarian Practices. Born and raised in Tonga, she joins us with an illustrious 13 year career that spans across various facets of International Affairs and Migration. Mele has served at the Australian Consulate-General in New York, the United States Embassy in Fiji, Immigration New Zealand and the World Health Organization in Tonga. Currently, Mele works in the USRAP Oversight Unit at the UN Migration (IOM, International Organization for Migration) based in Washington, DC.

Her background is complemented by a Masters from Washington University in St. Louis, School of Law and a Bachelor's Degree from Auckland Institute of Studies (New Zealand).

Mele hopes the MIMR master’s program will further expand her research, knowledge and skills within global migration issues, but mostly around Labor Migration trends, Regular Migration pathways and internally displaced people due to climate change which draw close to her home, Tonga and the Pacific as a whole.

Beyond her professional pursuits, Mele has a passion for exploring different cultures and food, visiting museums and watching Broadway shows. Mele shares that she indulges in the art of Polynesian dancing where she last danced with Suliana’s Dance Academy in Tonga, before she migrated to the U.S.