$500k To Support Young New Zealanders To Change The World

PRESS RELEASE

$500k To Support Young New Zealanders To Change The World

Friday 20 February, 2015
More young New Zealanders will benefit from Youth Minister Nikki Kaye’s decision to commit $500,000 to Inspiring Stories Trust, operating nationwide with a vision to see every young New Zealander to unleash their potential to change the world.

The announcement builds on the success of Festival for the Future, and the Live the Dream accelerator programme, two of the Trust’s flagship initiatives to grow young social entrepreneurs and their ventures.

Founder and CEO of Inspiring Stories, Guy Ryan, says, "we're living in a world with increasingly complex and urgent problems that need solving – social, environmental and economic.

Our work gives young people access to some of New Zealand's most brilliant minds to understand these complexities, and grow ideas that can make a real difference."

Earlier this week the 10-week accelerator programme, Live the Dream, had successful final showcase events which saw 30 young social entrepreneurs pitch their ‘ideas for a better New Zealand’ to a combined audience of over 300 in Auckland and Wellington.

Ventures range from a music platform that could redirect up to $5 million to Kiwi musicians, to an e- learning platform that pairs children in China and New Zealand; a programme that builds mental resilience amongst teenage rugby players, to an organic mascara product that restores the sight of someone in need with every purchase.

Chair of Inspiring Stories, Vanisa Dhiru, says “the support from Minister Kaye is invaluable and strong validation of our work to date.

It will help the Trust to reach more people through its programmes aimed at growing the next generation of social entrepreneurs, including expanding the successful Live the Dream accelerator programme."

The Trust is currently in preparation to launch a new endowment, the Future Fund, which will invest in tailored support for New Zealand’s most promising young social entrepreneurs.

Ryan is also a finalist for the 2015 Young New Zealander of the Year Award.

LIVE THE DREAM 2014/15 VENTURES

FUTURE E // Auckland Starting businesses today requires more than innovative ideas; it also needs strong partnerships, cultural knowledge and social good.

It is a huge task; that’s why Future E is creating a platform for young New Zealand and Chinese entrepreneurs to interact online and offline, to share learning and create better economic ties between these important trading partners.

YOMO // Wellington YOMO is a project focused on using media to create powerful pauses.

Focused initially toward stressed and busy young people who struggle to juggle all of the pressures of modern life, YOMO encourages them to take one minute out of their day to improve the rest of it.

Using the approach of mindfulness, and leveraging the ‘ways to wellbeing’.

BEAST // Wellington Beast is a program to improve the mental wellbeing of high school rugby players.

The program brings together tools from sports psychology and positive psychology to teach skills that will boost them to the top of their game, not only on the field, but also in life.

PLASTIC DIET // Auckland Plastic Diet is passionate about ending plastic pollution.

They aim to reduce the use of single-use plastic in New Zealand, working to stop plastic rubbish before it exists.

By changing the relationship Kiwis have with waste, Plastic Diet aims to create powerful mandates for government and business to implement responsible policies.

TAO // Wellington TAO (Time-Out At Office) is an interactive and accessible learning programme that is tailored to the needs of office workers, introducing them to some basic principles and practices of health-care across a number of modalities from a Chinese holistic health perspective.

DAY OF DEEDS // Auckland Day of Deeds enables busy people to connect with inspiring charities in a unique and creative way.

Through a day-long event, teams compete for glory and a grand prize, learning about charities in the process.

These charities get a service that money can’t buy and connections they would never usually make.

BUST A MOVE // Wellington Bust A Move is an app that makes it easy to discover and do physical activity you enjoy.

A single database that beautifully showcases and educates people on the variety of physical activities available (from salsa lessons, frisbee in the park to beginners mountain biking and laser tag), makes it convenient for people based on location and time while making it social to increase engagement/regularity of activity.

INDIGO & IRIS // Wellington Indigo & Iris is a beauty brand with a difference.

Every product you buy changes the world.

The first product by Indigo & Iris is Mascara For Sight, a high-quality and organic mascara.

Lovingly crafted with essential vitamins, nourishing oils and the purest ingredients.

Not tested on animals.

Every mascara funds eyesight restorative surgeries in the Pacific Islands.

GROW AOTEAROA // Wellington We are committed to tackling the interwoven problems of re-localising our food system to reduce the contribution to climate change made by agriculture today.

We want to prepare for the challenge of feeding New Zealand in an unstable future climate and to provide access to healthy produce.

We design, install and maintain thriving edible landscapes.

For every paying customer we gain, we offer our services free to communities in need.

PEGIT / Auckland Pegit is an online self-marketing tool; a portal connecting work with workers and workers with work.

Focused around creating an alternative and innovative avenue for financing ones livelihood, Pegit looks to address why currently the quality of ones life is determined by the circumstances of the job market.

EVERGREEN MUSIC // Wellington A curated New Zealand music service for retail spaces.

Revenues go to NZ artists instead of being repatriated overseas.

Nick’s venture will be a record label – licensing music to businesses and clipping the ticket on artist royalties.

This venture supplements and aids local music and culture.

Y.I.DESIGN // Wellington Y.I.Design is a social enterprise dedicated to empowering local communities to proactively pool resources and develop buildings that enhance the social urban fabric.

The online platform connects people, projects and investors with the aim to build places we love to live.

Y.I.Design has a pilot project beginning in Lyttelton, Christchurch.

NEXT LEVEL // Auckland Next Level is about helping and empowering young people to make smart career decisions that align with their passion.

We run workshops, connect young people with people in the workforce for coffee and conversation, and run low-risk internships.

All of this is backed up by an interactive digital platform.

INKLING // Wellington Inkling is a mentoring network for social and environmental entrepreneurs, connecting three groups of people: aspiring changemakers, active social entrepreneurs, and people with skills, knowledge and experience they can share to help social and environmental ventures and ideas to grow.

Inkling is a website platform that brings people together in the real world, one mentoring conversation at a time.

ABCD FIRST // Auckland ABCD First is making New Zealand a better place for young children with special needs.

Through an intensive early intervention programme, ABCD First will provide essential skill building to children with special needs, better preparing them for their school career.

FOR PURPOSE // Auckland For Purpose is a platform that works with communities to enable greater energy independence through renewables.

They support community organisations to transition to renewable energy by enabling local crowd funded investment; freeing those organisations’ cash for investment into the people they serve, and building community resilience through communication and education.

COPLAY // Auckland CONNECT.

PLAY.

REWARD.

CoPlay creates positive social and active interactions, engaging individuals and communities, while tackling the issue of obesity.

A social play platform, it is an effective, fun and inclusive tool that enables parents, children and families to connect, play, be active, have fun and be collectively rewarded for their active behaviour.

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