Top young leaders join Asia NZ Leadership Network

Top young leaders join Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Leadership Network

Asia New Zealand Foundation is welcoming 35 outstanding young people from a wide range of backgrounds as new members of its Leadership Network.

The new members will join more than 300 existing members of the established professional network, which is at the forefront of developing and maintaining strong links between Asia and New Zealand. Established in 2007, members of the global network come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds and are based throughout New Zealand, in Asia and beyond.

New Leadership Network members accepted in the 2016 intake include:

• Aaron Hape (Wellington), senior parliamentary executive assistant, New Zealand advisory panelist for The Queen's Young Leaders Programme, and founder and executive director of Commonwealth Youth New Zealand. Hape's awards include the Minister of Youth Affairs Leadership Award and the Sir Apirana Ngata Memorial Scholarship.

• Sachie Nomura (Auckland), founder of Sachie’s Kitchen, an award-winning cooking school that operates Asian cooking classes in Auckland, and presenter and executive producer of the television show of the same name. She has also written a follow-up cookbook. Japan-born Nomura also has a university degree in Chinese and is working on a television series about China's cuisine.
• Alex Reese (Christchurch), founder of the Cricket Live Foundation, a New Zealand based non-profit organisation that uses cricket as a medium to develop life skills in under- privileged children in Sri Lanka and India. Reese was first exposed to India as a 15-year-old on a New Zealand secondary schools cricket tour, and later lived in Mumbai.

• Christey West (originally from Christchurch, now based in Singapore), anti-trafficking consultant. Christey has been living in Asia for the past decade, working with grassroots organisations on poverty reduction programmes. She speaks fluent Japanese and has lived in the Philippines and Vietnam.

Asia New Zealand Foundation acting executive director Adele Mason says the Foundation received more than 160 applications for the network this year and the selection panel was impressed with the calibre of applicants. The new members come from a wide array of professions, such as the arts, business, education, the health sector, journalism, the public sector and NGOs.

“Some of the members were born in Asia and many of the others have extensive experience living and working in Asian countries. Others have less personal experience in Asia but are leaders in their fields and have taken the initiative to join the network, recognising that a strong understanding of Asia will be vital to their future careers. The network's strength is in its diversity.

“We see these young professionals as an important investment in the future of New Zealand as they move into leadership roles at the highest levels. They have helped build intercultural and international networks, supported each other in their career development, and have acted as role models for other New Zealanders engaging with Asia.”

Recent Leadership Network activities include forums in New Zealand on South Asia and on social entrepreneurship, and a Rethinking Leadership Hui in Thailand for 16 members of the network. North Asia-based members will meet at a forum in Xi'an, China, in August.

The new members will attend an induction day in Wellington on Saturday, July 25.
The Asia New Zealand Foundation is the leading non-government organisation on New Zealand-Asia relations, with a range of programmes designed to equip New Zealanders with first-hand experience of Asia and to forge valuable links to the region. Founded in 1994, the Foundation works in five main areas - business, arts and culture, education, media and research. It also runs a Leadership Network and takes a lead role in track II (informal diplomacy) bilateral and multilateral dialogues in the Asia-Pacific region.

For more information, visit: www.asianz.org.nz

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