Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan
Tirikatene-Sullivan was employed as a Maori welfare officer by the Department of Māori Affairs in 1958. She eventually also served as a child welfare officer in Rotorua and as a social security welfare officer in Lower Hutt and Wellington. She continued to volunteer for the Maori MPs as she had done, and studied part-time at Victoria University College. Tirikatene-Sullivan was named the Women’s Vice-President on the Executive of the Victoria University Students’ Association and and inaugural president of the Federation of Māori University Students in 1959. During her time in those positions, she advocated for the teaching of Maori studies in New Zealand universities.