Community youth development
Client: Youthline NZ
Role: co-designer/facilitator/design strategy
Voice was an experiential personal development curriculum and youth support framework designed to serve young people failing within mainstream education systems. Situated between critical pedagogy and youth development, the project devised personal development models incorporating Te Ao Māori aiming to foster self-worth, purpose, and community relationships among disengaged youth. As part of the establishing team, I helped co-design the year-long programmme structure – including a three-day communal residential experience – and co-facilitated core modules. The inaugural program’s documented success provided the critical proof-of-concept that secured government funding to establish a dedicated school for at-risk youth, marking a substantial policy and structural contribution to New Zealand’s community services sector.