Camille Nakhid

Camille Elizabeth Anne Nakhid is a professor of social science and public policy at Auckland University of Technology. In 2018 she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to ethnic communities and education.

Academic career
Nakhid has a Bachelor of Science from New York University. She also holds a diploma and a master's degree in education, and a postgraduate certificate in emergency management. She has lived in New Zealand for more than 20 years, In 2018 Nakhid complete a doctorate at the University of Auckland, with a thesis titled "Intercultural" perceptions and institutional responses: explaining Pasifika students' achievement in New Zealand secondary schools. She was promoted to full professor at the Auckland University of Technology.

Nakhid researches migrant resettlement, queer and ethnic communities, and academic achievement in Māori and Pasifika people, as well as how to make research methodologies culturally relevant. Her research has shown that New Zealanders are more polite about their racism than people elsewhere, which can make it more difficult to call it out as racism.

Nakhid advises Auckland Council on ethnic issues through the Ethnic People's Advisory Panel, of which she was the inaugural chair. She has served on the Henderson Community Board, the Waitakere Ethnic Board, and the Pacific Media Centre Advisory Board.

Awards and honours
In 2018 Nakhid was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to ethnic communities and education.

Personal life
Nakhid was born in Trinidad and Tobago. She has a Samoan husband, and plays in a steel band with her son.