Empowering the future: Young people lead community change

Youth empowerment is making significant strides in the Tāmaki and Ōtara communities, with initiatives such as the Youth4Sure Fund and local projects enabling young people to play a direct role in shaping their environment.

No one understands how to engage youth better than the young people themselves. That’s why Wayfynders, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) established in 2021, empowers rangatahi to make decisions for themselves – by youth, for youth – providing them with control over a funding initiative that supports local community projects through the Youth4Sure Fund.

The fund is led by a youth panel of 10 Wayfynders, comprising students from Tāmaki who have grown up in the communities they aim to support, encouraging local young people to apply for funding.

The fund empowers youth by giving them the responsibility to allocate funds to community projects. They oversee the distribution of resources for initiatives that foster youth connections through free workshops, podcasts, internships, sports activities, and more.

Gloria Tu’itupou, youth coordinator for Wayfynders, says, "Youth4Sure is a great way for rangatahi to engage with meaningful outcomes they can see and recognise. The youth weren't just contributing to local decision-making, they were driving it."

A prime example of youth empowerment in Ōtara is the development of the town centre playground, where young people were entrusted with the decision-making power over the location and design of the new park after the original playground was removed due to anti-social behaviour.

Apulu Reece Autagavaia, chair of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board, says, "It's young people who will be using it. Why should adults decide things that the youth can really make good choices on and take ownership of?”

He says that when youth are given responsibility and involved in the decision-making process, they are more likely to care for and maintain communal spaces.

“Once they make a decision, they’ll know, 'Oh yeah, we as the youth decided to design it this way,' and they’ll definitely look after it better, rather than an adult deciding without them understanding why it was designed or located in that position,” Apulu says.

Youth4Sure was born from the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Deliberative Democracy Pilot, where local rangatahi came together to explore how Auckland Council could better support youth hauora. Photo/Wayfynders

Maria Meredith, chair of the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board, supports groups like the Wayfynders that genuinely impact the community.

"Our youth like to engage with like-minded peers of a similar age and background, and that’s one of the amazing benefits of Wayfynders, as they understand the needs and desires of our youth,” Meredith says.

Apulu commends Wayfynders for their impactful work and model of youth empowerment.

The Youth4Sure Participatory Budgeting project empowers rangatahi as active community leaders, with a fund driven by their 4 main objectives, led by youth, for youth. Photo / Wayfynders

“I think it’s either Māngere or Manurewa... they also have a similar youth fund that’s given to youth,” Apulu says of neighbouring local boards.

“If that goes well, we can learn from them and from the other local boards in the east and south - what they learned, how they did it, the good things and the bad. We’d love to expand on that and give more opportunities for our young people to make decisions.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.