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Nau mai, haere mai!

The year has just started – though things are coming along very quickly for us here at IACT!

It has been a while since we reached out to our lovely followers with a newsletter, and we have much to share!

Firstly, we want to send our aroha to those affected by the severe weather conditions in Tāmaki Makaurau and its neighbouring regions over the past two weeks, and hope that everyone is keeping safe. Gareth and Talie from our team made it out to some of the vulnerable areas over the past two weekends and gave the community a hand, so a big mihi to them and everyone else that has dedicated their spare hours to come together and help those that have been hit the hardest. Kia kaha.

We are very excited to share some of our plans for the year in our next newsletter, and can’t wait to continue doing our bit to grow and facilitate a socially cohesive and inclusive Aotearoa. Without further ado, let’s catch up on what has been going on!

Ngā mihi nui and tena koe on behalf of the IACT whanau.

A quick 2022 recap

2022 was a strong year of progress for Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono. In reflection, we feel that there have been solid developments and tautoko for many of our projects and overall kaupapa.

One of our highlights was taking our research and mahi into the private sector, to teach workshops on diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Above is a snap of Anjum and a team member from First Gas after a productive day of kōrero and akoranga!

We also had many opportunities for learning, with one educational channel being through our conversations about tūrangawaewae with different community groups and demographics. These conversations took place in person and online, and those of which that were recorded can be found on our website!

At the end of 2022 we released a report compiling some of the core themes from these stories, looking in particular at how pākehā and other tauiwi come to terms with the concept of tūrangawaewae, belonging and their place in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Our Media as Allies group made bounds of progress through community engagement sessions, in order to get a community-led response to how Aotearoa could strengthen and mitigate bias in it’s mediascape. These sessions turned into reports, which turned into kōrero with journalists and representatives around New Zealand’s media institutions as to where we can go next.

We now have plans for media training MAA group members and a media-community symposium to further our kaupapa. You can read the Media as Allies press release from late last year in the section below!

Participants of a connect and korero event held by IACT
Here’s a happy pic of the Ethnic Youth Voices group in action at one of our Connect and Kōrero events from last year. Working alongside and learning from our tamariki is such a key component in building a nourished and inclusive society for the future. You can find the rest of the images on our Facebook, courtesy to Shakie Muliro from Black Creatives Aotearoa for their work behind the lens.

Alongside this mahi, we ran tens of workshops on belonging and inclusion all over the motu! These follow-up sessions were invaluable for comparing what we heard from communities in 2020, to see what had changed in 2022. We are excited to share your stories and our results from these conversations!

After 2022, we feel as though our connections have been strengthened and our constellations have expanded across the regions of Aotearoa. We have some exciting projects in the works for this year, and I can’t wait to be writing the 2023 recap in a years’ time to see the results of another year building a Te Titiri-focused and inclusive New Zealand.

Before the year escapes on us, we just want to reiterate our love and appreciation for all of you that interact and are involved with our project and kaupapa. Be it our funders, our advisors, our project attendees, or those that read and share our work – you are all an essential part of our cause and we couldn’t do it without you. Ngā mihi nui!

Team changes in 2023

Haere rā to Graeme Storer
The year started off for us with some (teary-eyed) staffing changes, marking the end of our contract with facilitator Graeme Storer. Graeme has been with us from the start of 2021, and proved to be an invaluable asset to the development of IACT. With a background in multiple civil society, government, donor and private sector relationships in Aotearoa and overseas, we would not have had the past two years we did without his humbled insight and cracking wit. Kia ora rawa atu & noho ora mai to you, our friend.

Nau mai to Staughm Collins
After our communications coordinator Anusha left us back in October, Staughm stepped into the role to facilitate our external communications until the end of the year. Dedicated to the kaupapa and infatuated by the core-team’s charm, it turns out he will be sticking around for this year too!

Staughm has spent most his life in Ōtepoti, though in 2022 moved to Tāmaki Makaurau to find some fresh opportunities. If you wish to reach out to him for anything communications related, or just to say hi, you can do so on our socials or at [email protected].

Media as Allies

As detailed above, last year our Media as Allies group made great progress towards what a fair and equally representative media system could look like in Aotearoa. With the dissemination of our press release at the end of November, we are looking for new members and potential partners for 2023!

The group is planning media training for members in early 2023, and a potential symposium for media and community representatives later in the year.

We are welcoming any interest in the project from media and community groups, so if you would like to be involved or have any questions then you can contact us at [email protected]. Tēnā koe!

The HRC release two crucial anti-racism reports: Ki te Whaiao and Maranga Mai!

Last Friday the 3rd, the New Zealand Human Rights Commission released two critical reports on the impact of colonisation, racism and white supremacy on tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Our co-lead Anjum was an advisory member of the reports, speaking to them in a salient Op-Ed piece published in The Spinoff on Waitangi day, which you can read here.

Ki te Whaiao is the first document, taking for as a community engagement report for developing a National Action Plan Against Racism (NAPAR).

Some of the key takeaways and action points from the Maranga Mai report renew the call for restoring Te Tiriti to its rightful place, enabling tino rangatiratanga for Māori, and constitutional reform and co-governance. While the documents are (necessarily) long, both reports are rich in historical accuracy and personal accounts and are highly recommended reading!

As Waitangi weekend passes us by, these reports remain a concrete foundation from which productive Te Tiriti advocacy and anti-racism can progress in 2023. A big ka pai and mihi to everybody involved, and if you are interested you can give the two reports a read below ❤️

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A more inclusive Aotearoa New Zealand needs collective leadership and action. We invite you and your community to connect with us and others working for an inclusive society.

If there are any individuals or groups in your community/networks who don’t know about us, but would tautoko our kaupapa, please do invite them to subscribe to our pānui or follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter. You can also direct them to our website to learn more about us, or they can email us if they have specific questions about collaborating with us.