Eteroa Lafaele was announced as the 2021 New Zealand Young IT Professional of the Year for her tenacity as a trailblazer in the field of software development and her extraordinary leadership and clear aspiration to help her Pasifika communities. She is a technology evangelist in her professional role at Xero, and also for those under-represented in our industry, most specifically Māori and Pasifika. Eteroa is passionate about ‘Tautua’ (serving her community) and continuing to grow and lead in the technology industry in Aotearoa New Zealand.