Dr. Lorraine McLeod is a Pākehā of English and Scottish descent. From a farming family, she spent the first two decades of her adult life juggling farming with early childhood and primary school teaching and further study.

She moved into teacher education in 1991 at a private provider, then became a principal lecturer at AIT (now Auckland University of Technology). Her next position was as Associate Dean, Early Childhood Teacher Education at Auckland College of Education (now Auckland University).

After brief spells at the then-Teachers Council and in the Ministry of Education, she was employed as an Assistant Professor of Education at the United Arab Emirates University near Dubai.

Now retired, she is the author of two previous books, Toby Curtis Unfinished Business – Ki hea āpōpō, the story of Te Arawa leader Sir Toby Curtis, and Leave Your Big Boots at the Door: Pakeha confronting racism against Māori.