The last few weeks have been very hectic here at I.Lead HQ. More meetings and discussions have surfaced around where to from here? and how do we get there? With all that’s going on, it’s also good to look back and celebrate the little wins as well as the champions who helped to make them happen.

And that’s what’s happened throughout the past week. On Friday, our young people from YES Disability’s Auckland Youth Engagement Group were privilged to host our peers from Palmerston North in attending the 2019 Attitude Awards, with a table sponspored by Gary Monk and the team at St Patrick’s Golf Trust. 

There was laughter, cheering and solid discussions still occuring around the table on the night, and our Palmerston North young people thought it was the highlight to their visit up here in Auckland, with Ana-Leigh saying ““This was amazing!! I have never seen anything like this. It’s like a really big deal! I never thought I would be sitting here like this. Thank you for this. I had the best time”.

It was truly awesome to see future leaders and game-changers being recognized for their hard work in our sector. It gave us all conviction in knowing we were on the right track it the work that we’re doing as part of I.Lead. This was made even more special with the fact that some of our young people got mentioned in some presenter and recipient speeches, with Minister of Disability, hon. Carmel Sepuloni noting the work of the young people who attended I.Lead, and notable Pasefika Disability Leader, Pati Umaga, giving a shout out to our very own YEG member, Niah Lovo, and her pasefika cultural group for their collaboration on some of his works.

The praises kept coming with our very own I.Lead Committee Chair, Kramer Hoeflich, winning the 2020 New Zealander of the Year Local Hero Award. Kramer was ecstatic about winning the award, saying “I am so grateful to recieve such praise. I hope to continue this awesome work for years to come, and hope that there are many other Pasefika young people in the disability sector who will be striving for this opportunity in making a difference for all young people in New Zealand and the world.”

It was great to have celebrated this year’s successes and, with many more on the horizon, it has us super excited for what’s to come in the new year. Let us know your thoughts on the year past and what you want to see for I.Lead’s future.

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