Mai Chen is a New Zealand and Harvard educated lawyer with a professional and specialist focus in constitutional and administrative law, Waitangi tribunal and courts, human rights, white collar fraud and regulatory defence, judicial review, regulatory issues, education law, and public policy and law reform. Chen is a barrister and holds an office in the Public Law Toolbox Chambers. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Auckland School of Law. Having served previously in the university's Business School. Chen is also the Chair of New Zealand Asian Leaders, SUPERdiverse WOMEN and the Superdiversity Institute for Law, Policy and Business. She is married to Dr John Sinclair and the two have one son.

The NEXT Woman of the Year awards were annual awards in New Zealand, conferred by NEXT magazine, to "celebrate the outstanding achievements of New Zealand women". The awards, generally announced in October, were first held in 2010, and had five categories, Health & Science, Arts & Culture, Sports, Business and Community. By 2019, two further categories had been added: Education, and a Lifetime Achievement Award. From these category winners, a supreme winner, the NEXT Woman of the Year, was selected. When Bauer Media exited magazine publishing in New Zealand in 2020, Next magazine ceased publishing, and the Woman of the Year awards have not been made since.