Rachael Selby (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Pareraukawa) has a background in hapū and iwi development, education, and Māori development. In 1967 Rachael travelled to the USA having successfully won an AFS student exchange scholarship to Pennsylvania. She completed her BA at Palmerston North Teachers’ Training College in 1968 before travelling to the UK in the early 1970s to live and work. In 1996 Rachael completed her MA in Philosophy.
Rachael is currently a senior lecturer at Massey University and an oral history researcher. She also chairs the Raukawa ki te Tongā Trust, the Ngātokowaru Māori Committee and the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Board.