Community News
Malu Malo-Fuiava
Elections Information

Here are some info to get you and your communities voting ready; includes some information about the election process and how to vote.

Elections Information
Poynter Design
Have your say Auckland

Help shape the future of Auckland by giving your feedback around the Annual Budget and Water Strategy.

Have your say Auckland
Poynter Design
We are Belong Aotearoa.

A new brand name to suit the new strategy which is courageous new direction to address the prevalent barriers newcomers face when settling in New Zealand. 



We are Belong Aotearoa.

Podcast

,

Episode 2 #PassTheMic: Mental health, belonging & sports

,
Episode 2 #PassTheMic: Mental health, belonging & sports

Ola Shahin is a Palestinian-Kiwi engineer and a community football coach at Manukau United Football Club with an inspiring journey. She has spoken openly about her journey with depression and anxiety, giving voice to so many people who live with mental illness. Ola's lived experiences bring a rare, stark grittiness and transparency to the meaning of belonging, of being a New Zealander. You are in for such a beautiful storytelling experience about mental health, a sense of belonging, football life and cake!

‍Content warning: This article covers the topic of suicide.

,

Episode 9 #PassTheMic: Mental health taboos & dating in Asian culture

,
Episode 9 #PassTheMic: Mental health taboos & dating in Asian culture

Lovely Dizon is a 1.5 generation Filipino-Kiwi who grew up in Aotearoa New Zealand. Lovely is currently a PhD candidate and her research focuses on supporting 1.5 and second-generation Southeast Asian migrant adolescents as they negotiate their ethnic identity. She is passionate about youth health and ensuring that Asian young people have access to culturally safe health services, in particular mental health services. In this episode, we talk about living in 'in-between' spaces, mental health, deconstructing faith and dating!

,

Episode 10 #PassTheMic: Career Coaching, empowering women, working with DEI

,
Episode 10 #PassTheMic: Career Coaching, empowering women, working with DEI

Suki Xiao is a Chinese-New Zealander, Career Coach and Founder of "As You" with a mission to empower women of colour to have confidence and clarity in their career and leadership. A former Agile Coach at Xero and other tech companies, she is now mentoring people around finding their purpose and redefining their grind. In this episode, we talk about impostor syndrome in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space, what it’s like to define yourself as an Asian woman coach and bringing your whole self to work. We also touch on what femininity means to us.

,

Episode 11 #PassTheMic: Connection to Samoan and Chinese roots, community and leadership

,
Episode 11 #PassTheMic: Connection to Samoan and Chinese roots, community and leadership

This episode, I chat to Ashley Petau-Ah Poe. Ashley is Samoan-Chinese, she grew up in Hong Kong and moved later to New Zealand. She's currently graduating with her law degree. And in this episode, we talk about the feeling of being displaced or not being connected to your Pacific roots, the whole idea of being a plastic Samoan and what it actually means, and then also finding a community of people who feel the same. We touch on good and bad leadership, and Ashley shares some examples of organisations that she loves. Lastly, we talk about that feeling of not doing enough or not knowing if your story is important enough to share. Welcome, Ashley.

,

Episode 12 #PassTheMic: Ethnic urban planning and social justice for minorities

,
Episode 12 #PassTheMic: Ethnic urban planning and social justice for minorities

This conversation is with Marie Ysabel Landingin was born in Manila, raised in Auckland and currently works on major infrastructure projects at Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency. Marie is a 'third culture kid' dreaming of equitable and inclusive cities for all. She is a part of the Multi-Ethnic Young Leaders Network and Authenticity Aotearoa. This podcast kicks off by Marie sharing with us what urban planning is and her passion for putting an ethnic lens on it. We talk about identity, her feelings of not doing enough when it comes to being an activist and migrant relationships with tāngata whenua.

,

Episode 13 #PassTheMic: Culture, faith, food and belonging in the world of sports

,
Episode 13 #PassTheMic: Culture, faith, food and belonging in the world of sports

Ajaz is a New Zealand cricketer, who plays for none other than Black Caps, representing New Zealand international, for all your cricket fans out there. We will be discussing questions of culture, faith, belonging, and interestingly food and how all of it plays into the field of sports.

,

Episode 14 #PassTheMic: Closing the pay gap and creating space for migrants and other minorities

,
Episode 14 #PassTheMic: Closing the pay gap and creating space for migrants and other minorities

This conversation is with Nina Santos, who identifies as a first-generation migrant from the Philippines and is a passionate advocate for ethnic communities, migrant rights and gender equality. Nina has been recognised by the Asian New Zealand Foundation and YWCA as a young person to watch! In this episode, Nina shares with us her work with the “Mind The Gap'' campaign and ethnic pay gap reporting. By the way this conversation is a bit special: it was recorded on my birthday and 15 minutes after Nina tested positive for COVID-19.

,

Episode 15 #PassTheMic: Tales of being a child refugee, human rights advocacy and Love Is Blind

,
Episode 15 #PassTheMic: Tales of being a child refugee, human rights advocacy and Love Is Blind

This interview is with a wonderful, wonderful woman in a dear friend, Kat Eghdamian. She is an Iranian-Kurdish New Zealander and former child refugee. Kat has 6 degrees (which she is a bit embarrassed about) and works as Lead Advisor for Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner. Kat tells many stories about her country of birth, journey to Aotearoa, her parents and her work with migrant exploitation and modern slavery. We end on chatting about Love is Blind and delicious Persian food. Enjoy.

,

Episode 6 #PassTheMic: How the headscarf makes me feel like a bad-ass

,
Episode 6 #PassTheMic: How the headscarf makes me feel like a bad-ass

Nilofer Faizal recently moved to Auckland and has travelled and lived in India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Morocco. We talk about Nilofer’s travels, culture, sense of belonging as a Muslim woman, her work with New Zealand Muslim Association and how Nilofer’s headscarf makes her feel empowered.

,

Episode 7 #PassTheMic: Bringing your cultural identity into career coaching

,
Episode 7 #PassTheMic: Bringing your cultural identity into career coaching

This conversation is with Andrew Tui. He is a podcaster and a career practitioner who loves coffee and a ukulele jam. In this podcast, we dive deeper into Andrew’s Samoan-Chinese heritage and his connections to faith and the rainbow community. Andrew shares some practical insights and advice that organisations can and should take when it comes to equity, diversity and inclusion, especially around Pacific youth.

,

Episode 8 #PassTheMic: Queer culture, ethnicity & living your truth

,
Episode 8 #PassTheMic: Queer culture, ethnicity & living your truth

This conversation is with Medulla Oblongata. She is a drag Queen performer, who competed in the first season of House of Drag. Medulla is a non-binary former refugee from the Maldives who lived in Malaysia, before finding their home in Aotearoa New Zealand. We talk about queer culture, living your truth, behind the scenes of NZ drag, and discrimination. Fasten your seat belts, get your cuppa and read on (or listed in).

,

Episode 1 #PassTheMic: Climate Justice & finding yourself as a migrant

,
Episode 1 #PassTheMic: Climate Justice & finding yourself as a migrant

Pok Wei Heng is a climate change consultant by day, working on regenerative cities centred on learning from indigenous wisdom, and a climate justice advocate by night. Pok recently moved to New Zealand from Singapore and is passionate about decolonisation, exploring Asian identity, connecting climate justice with diversity, equity and inclusion work. In this episode we discuss the pros and cons of collectivism, migrant relationships with Te Tiriti and Māori, allyship, finding your place as a recent migrant and climate change.

,

Episode 3 #PassTheMic: African representation, poetry and hot takes

,
Episode 3 #PassTheMic: African representation, poetry and hot takes

Vira Paky is a young Congolese-Kiwi-South African woman. She is a Chairperson of the New Zealand National Refugee Youth Council, which advocates for, engages & supports refugee background youth around Aotearoa New Zealand. Vira is an outstanding poet who writes about intersections of feminism, race, African identity and many other poignant topics. In this episode we talk about Vira’s poetry, being true to her voice, black-kiwi representation in New Zealand, what it means to be an advocate in this day and age plus Vira's “hot take” about young people and the future.

,

Episode 4 #PassTheMic: Mental gymnastics of being a woman of colour

,
Episode 4 #PassTheMic: Mental gymnastics of being a woman of colour

This conversation is with Maria Khaydar. She is a self-described “capitalist girl-boss by day and anarchist by night”. Maria currently works in the tech industry and is actively involved in amplifying ethnic voices and advocating for refugee and asylum seeker rights. We talk about her Syrian-Azeri-Russian identity and expectations that come with that mix. We discuss the way we police ourselves as women of colour and reject the notion of being a trail-blazer.