Dr Grace Schaefer

Dr Grace Schaefer is the Strategic Business Development Director for Tonkin + Taylor (T+T). Grace’s formative years living in Fiji in the late 1980s to mid-1990s left a lasting impression and a passion for supporting initiatives and projects that contribute to a thriving Pacific.

T+T draws upon more than 1,200 experts operating from offices in New Zealand and Australia, with established counterparts in Tonga, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia and French Polynesia. T+T provides expertise in Climate + Hazard Resilience, Energy, Industry, Land + Buildings, Transport, Water, Waste and Resource Recovery.

T+T’s track record encompasses; natural hazards, early warning systems, rapid alert notification systems, tsunami warning dissemination, sustainable development, resilient infrastructure development, town planning, institutional strengthening and training, hydrological and water resource studies for key development partners, donor agencies, Pacific Island governments and their relevant authorities, and private sector partners.

Grace was the first Chair of the Auckland Chapter for the Women's Infrastructure Network (WIN), as well as a former member of the Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA) Advisory Panel for Industry Development. She holds a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Geology focussed on paleoclimatology, and a doctoral degree focussed on the institutionalisation of environmental sustainability in the construction sector.