Creating career pathways for south Auckland youth
The Youth Economy team is focused on increasing the economic engagement of rangatahi in south and west Auckland – home to more than a quarter of Auckland’s young people. Completing high school is one of the strongest predictors of economic engagement but over the last two years we have seen large numbers of rangatahi disengage from school to help their whānau, confirmed with a decline in school rolls of 11 – 13% for south Auckland compared to 3.2% pan Auckland. For these young people, finding purpose in their whānau and culture is helping to build their confidence and find the motivation they lost due to Covid fatigue. Youth Economy have been lucky to support culturally grounded organisations who know how to awhi rangatahi to feel proud of their culture and confident to take the next steps in their lives. Two such organisations - Mā te Huruhuru and Brown Pride, both run by young indigenous leaders with lived experience and passion aim to build a wider whānau and community for rangatahi Māori and Pasifika.
Mā te Huruhuru is a charitable trust that aims to improve outcomes for all Māori living in south Auckland. Specialising in working with at risk Māori taitamariki, their programmes offer wrap around support in employment, health, social services, wairua and housing. Many of the taitamariki in their programmes have become disconnected from education, training and/or employment. Many of them also come from the care system and have complex backgrounds, which include family violence, drug and alcohol addictions, police involvement and mental health issues.
The programmes at Mā te Huruhuru provide wrap around support for these taitamariki by helping them to cope with trauma they have faced through counselling services and creating pathways to healing by re-connecting them to their culture and spiritual connection. Once taitamariki are engaged, they are also assisted to build strong employment skills, licenses and other training that suit their career pathways. At the end of the programme the aim is to connect them to sustainable employment or training opportunities that will lead to quality careers. Post-placement support is also an essential part of their programmes where they ensure that taitamariki who come through Mā te Huruhuru have consistent and continuous support as they take the next steps in their lives.
Mā te Huruhuru was supported by Youth Economy team using Manurewa local board funding to deliver it’s first employment preparation programme in 2020. Following the success of this programme, He Poutama Rangatahi funding by Ministry of Social Development has been assisting Mā te Huruhuru to support about 100 south Auckland taitamariki.
Brown Pride is an organisation dedicated to making a difference to the lives of young Pasifika and Māori living in south Auckland. What started out as three school friends with a dream to empower Pasifika and Māori through fitness, arts and community has grown into a movement. Based in Manukau, their gym has evolved to include a barbershop, a music label, and a youth support group.
More recently, Brown Pride was supported by the Youth Economy team to launch their Young Kings employment/entrepreneurial programme thanks to funding from Manurewa local board and Māngere – Ōtāhuhu local board. Taking place over 12-weeks, the programme has engaged with young Pasifika and Māori males to help them set up their own enterprises, connect them to mahi to earn a decent living, and provide peer support and guidance throughout the programme. This included assistance in gaining strong employment skills, confidence to pitch their ideas and the licenses needed to get employment and/or enable them to pursue their interest in their own enterprise. Young people in the programme were also taken to different Pasifika businesses to meet, connect and understand their wider networks. This exposure and support has been integral to the Young Kings programme, with many of the young men having become disconnected from education, training and career aspirations. A key contributing factor was a lack of support from their whānau to pursue entrepreneurial pathways. Whānau preferred them to pursue any employment even if it was low waged. The programme has helped whānau understand that entrepreneurship can provide good opportunities to gain wealth.
The Young Kings programme is coming to an end in the next couple of weeks, but Brown Pride hopes to be able to continue this kaupapa that is focused on the needs of young people living in south Auckland.