MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday 6 December, 2015

Auckland Museum Announces Formation of a Youth Advisory Group

Auckland Museum has announced the formation of a Youth Advisory Group (YAG) which will see a select group of Auckland’s youth acting as a source of knowledge in assisting the Museum to create stronger links into Auckland’s youth networks and communities.

The instigation of this inaugural group signals another step in Auckland Museum’s Future Museum journey, the long-term strategy which lays the foundation for changes over the next 20 years. The aim of the YAG is to extend the Museum’s engagement with an ethnically diverse youth audience (15-29 year old Auckland independent adults), by giving them the opportunity to assist the Museum in delivering content relevant to them. This follows on from the success of Urbanlife, the Museum’s creative programme for young Aucklanders which provides opportunities for participants to increase their knowledge of museum resources, be mentored and gain practical training and work experience.
Bethany Edmunds, Museum Youth Outreach Programmer, says: “we’re really excited to be launching this group. The aim is to create opportunities for them to engage across the whole Museum, including policy development, new exhibitions, programmes specifically for a youth audience, collections and digital. The YAG will provide a strong youth voice for the Museum to reflect back to national and international visitors and can help us achieve Auckland’s aspirations for the Museum.”

The benefits for the individuals participating in the group will range from valuable organisational, management, event planning, marketing and communication skills, as well as potentially opening their eyes to viable career pathways in the sector.
The seven members of the group have been selected as a result of their demonstrated youth leadership, academic achievement, and participation in anything from the creative industries to science, human history, media and communications. The members will sit on the YAG for an initial period of one year, with an option to renew for another year.

For more information on the YAG members please see below.

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Youth Advisory Group members

Elspeth Carrol (18)
Elspeth is the director of her own film company Fluffy Socks Films and has produced film clips for Auckland Museum’s Urbanlife programme and Auckland Council’s ‘We Are Change Makers’ youth summit. Elspeth was a guest speaker for the 2013 TEDxYOUTH event. London born, Elspeth moved to Auckland when she was 8 years old, and is currently in her final year at Kristin School, where she is a prefect. She intends to study a conjoint Bachelor of Communications, majoring in Screen and Television and Bachelor of Business, majoring in Management in 2015.

Arizona Leger (19)
Arizona was a participant in the Navigating Spaces spoken word poetry group for Urbanlife 2012, and a guest speaker for the 2013 TEDxYOUTH event. She was Head Girl at Epsom Girls Grammar in 2013. She is of Māori, Samoa, Tongan, Fijian and European descent. Arizona is currently completing a Bachelor of Communications at Auckland University of Technology, hoping to major in Television or Radio. She also works on the promotional team for FLAVA radio station and as Student Ambassador for AUT.

Jade Leung (21)
Jade was a guest speaker for the 2013 TEDxYOUTH event and is the National Director for youth-run organisation NCEA Campus, tackling the issue of equity in education. A founding member for the not-for-profit, Jade has overseen its growth to now be a team of 180 tutors providing education and support for more than 3,000 NCEA exam students. Born in Hong Kong, Jade moved to New Zealand in 2008.

Hana Maihi (23)
Hana has a graphic design degree from Unitec and is currently employed by her iwi Ngati Whatua ki Orakei as the Kaitiaki kaimahi toi. She was the first Urbanlife intern and completed all of the graphic id and exhibition content for the programme in 2012. As part of the New Zealand delegation she has attended the APEC Voices of the Future international conference in Bali and the Future Leaders of the Pacific Conference in Samoa.

Christian Silver (18)
Christian is an emerging contractor for creating software. In 2013 he founded Decode, a project that aims to tackle the issue of a lack of access to education around technology. He was a speaker for the 2013 TEDx Youth event. Christian’s passions lie in innovative digital design, primarily in the areas of software; however, he has a lot of experience in event management and technical theatre.

Zach Soakai (19)
Zach was a participant in the Navigating Spaces spoken word poetry group for Urbanlife 2012, and runner-up in the 2014 Rising Voices youth poetry slam. He is currently studying towards a conjoint degree in arts and law and hopes to one day be working for the Ministry of Education; helping to further develop the curriculum provided by secondary schools in New Zealand. Zach is of Tongan, Samoan, and German descent.

Jahra 'Rager' Wasasala (23)
Jahra was a participant in the Museum’s Fiji language week youth project Me Vaka Duavata in 2014 with Fiji based dance company Vou. She is a contemporary dancer, choreographer and spoken word artist. Jade completed her technical and choreographic training at Unitec in 2012 graduating with a Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts, Majoring in Contemporary Dance. In 2014 she completed a residency in Indigenous Dance at the Banff Centre in Canada. Jade is of Fijian descent.

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