New Zealand’s largest social innovation summit took place in Wellington over the weekend, featuring inspiring speakers, workshops, panel discussions, entertainment and a marketplace.
Now in its tenth year, Festival for the Future is organized by Kiwi charity - Inspiring Stories, and began as a gathering of 100 like-minded people who wanted to brainstorm and share ideas.
Now it attracts delegates and contributors from across the world.
“It was wicked,” says youth advocate, Talei Bryant who was at the event.
“I was on the panel for inclusion and diversity, and that was an amazing experience being surrounded by the awesome wāhine, and listening to their stories.”
Bryant founded the Find your Fish movement, which helps young people find their passions. She has participated in the summit in previous years but this year was given the opportunity to be one of the speakers, and talked about her own experience of dealing with cultural identity and casual racism.”
“I’m Fijian Pākehā and I grew up in the Mataatua region so I was very blessed to be brought up on the marae learning about Tikanga Māori.
“So I always had that lack of identity, not knowing who I am or where I’m from,” Bryant says.