Sparking the fire: open day hopes to attract Pacific youth to tech

"We hope to start a fire for our young people who love tech."

The Cause Collective is sparking-up inspiration among young Pacific people eager to dive into the tech industry with an open-day today at their HQ in Manukau.

Creative Lead Muliagatele Danny Leaoasava'ii a.k.a Brotha D says they're hoping to foster a passion youth have for the tech world.

"(Young people who) love gaming, love animation, love illustration, graphic design, whatever they're into right now we want to expose them to further them and create pathways for them.”

The organisation is also aiming to combat low statistics in the tech sector for Pacific peoples by providing dedicated programmes.

Brotha D says despite decades of community efforts, there has been little change.

“In the tech world only 2.8 percent is Pacific. That’s a really bad stat especially (when) we’ve had learning institutes in our community for over 30 years offering tech programmes but none of our people are graduating or moving into those jobs.”

But Brotha D is adamant that despite the low representation, the group is working to make change, encouraging young people and their families to think of all the possibilities within the tech industry and attend the open day.

“We do things a little bit different here that’s all I can say…Lunch is provided and we’re having Pacific lunch rather than Palagi lunch.”

The open day is being held today at Cause Collective HQ and you can find out more about the Cause Collective here.