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Community News and Events.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 5 #PassTheMic: Neurodiversity, Korean culture, union work and art
Sun Min Elle Park has a research background in postcolonial theories in racism and is currently a union delegate. In this conversation, we talk about Sun’s upbringing and Korean culture, her research, union work, and Sun’s own recent journey with ADHD and Autism.