Hot Take: Young disruptors are changing the game for good

Everything is not okay, and it’s our fault. We are our systems and our systems are screwed.

Meet the young disruptors challenging our ways of working, that aren’t working for most of us.

Do you engage with young people in your organisation? How do you recognise and support the value they bring? Are you an enabler or are you getting in the way?

This Hot Take showcases the voices of four young disruptors not settling for less than systems change.

Disruptors:

Caitlyn Prince

As tangata tiriti Pākehā, Caitlyn asks her peers to sit up, listen and then speak. She is tired of people hiding behind keyboards, fake personalities, and personal brands. She advocates for deep listening and normalising uncomfortable dinner table topics, like decolonisation, degrowth and transformational systems change. Caitlyn currently works with Foodprint, having spent the past few years in the not-for-profit sector.

Quack Pirihi

Quack Pirihi (they/them/ia) is a cheeky rangatahi Māori activist from Takahiwai (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara). They work across a variety of kaupapa Māori initiatives, including whānau violence, mahi tukino (sexual harm), and suicide prevention. They also support kaupapa Takatāpui, helping queer whānau who identify with diverse genders and sexualities, with a focus on improving outcomes for rangatahi Māori. They've been a haututū (disruptor) on the world stage recently in Jamaica protecting our moana, and they also hold various governance and advisory positions in Aotearoa.

Dylan Hansen

Dylan Hansen (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai), is the Sustainability and Research Lead at Outward Bound New Zealand. As an outdoor educator, Dylan has spent his career facilitating experiential learning courses in the natural world. In his current role, Dylan's focus is reducing OBNZ GHGs and increasing their educational outcomes around connection to nature, environmental responsibility, and sustainability. Dylan is passionate about using adventure-based education as a way to facilitate self-inquiry and finding ways to make complex ideas easier to understand.

Shahin Najak

Shahin Najak is currently completing her MSc in Sustainable Development, following her undergraduate degrees in economics, environmental and biological science. Shahin is on the board for the Multiethnic Young Leaders Network (MYLN) as well as being a member of the Asia NZ Foundation Leadership Network. She is a member of the Wellington Global Shapers network and the former special advisor to the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO. She is also a policy advisor for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in the Trade and International team. Shahin is focused on increasing diversity and inclusion for people of colour and raising awareness for grass-root climate action responses.