Read real stories about inspiring women and be empowered to look after your mind, body and spirit through the good and bad times.
Read real stories about inspiring women and be empowered to look after your mind, body and spirit through the good and bad times.
Everything we do here at Dear Em is driven by our Leadership Team, or as we like to call them, our Embassadors. Embassadors take part in the yearlong Leadership Programme where they are supported to explore different youth relevant issues, and become leaders in their own communities, as well as produce digital content to help support young people’s wellbeing and their ability to navigate different issues.
Together the Embassadors work towards achieving our team vision.
As a part of our Leadership Programme, our Embassadors have the opportunity to start their own projects to create positive impact in their communities. These are just a few of our teams current projects!
The Consent Law Reform campaign was created by Dear Em Embassador, Layba Zubair, to call on our government to review and reform our current consent laws. In particular Layba, with support from Dear Em and Help Auckland, is calling for Affirmative Consent Laws, including a positive definition of consent and an age of consent.
Layba launched the Consent Law Reform petition in June 2022, receiving over 12,000 signatures
In September 2022, the petition was presented to Parliament by the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Marama Davidson
In August 2023 the Justice Select Committee released their report responding to the petition, agreeing that “the law on consent in this area is due for re-examination”
Common Chaos is Dear Em’s first ever podcast, hosted by Embassador Nesil Satani. The goal of Common Chaos is to share about Dear Em’s vision for a better future, through discussing a range of important issues in young peoples’ worlds, including mental health, consent, discrimination, body image and more!
Recording for Common Chaos kicked off in June 2023, and the first episode officially launched on Spotify in October 2023. Listen to the podcast here, or follow @commonchaospod on Instagram to keep up to date with new episodes!
Jhumka Journey is an initiative run by Embassadors Harini Pushpakumar and Sanskruti Banerjee, that aims to be a staple in South Asian representation just as jhumkas, a traditional South Asian earring, are a staple in their culture. Through education, activism and community events they strive to help other young people reclaim their heritage together on their Jhumka Journeys!
Jhumka Journey officially launched on Instagram in July 2024 - you can keep up to date with all of their content and exciting events through the link below!
Our team have noticed a massive trend across both their own and their friends experiences of school counselling: it isn’t great. This conversation amongst our team has prompted Embassador, Stella Cranwell, to lead a new research project to better understand young people’s experiences of school counselling, and what can be done to improve our system. The research will be led by young people, for young people, with the goal that every step of the research process will be as youth friendly as possible.
We are currently in the design phase of this project. To keep up to date with our survey launch and findings, follow us @dearem.nz on Instagram!
"Through the training days and the meetings and projects/events completed so far I have learnt a lot about how to use my voice to empower other young women in an effective and positive way."
"[The consent law reform project] proved to me that young people and adults working together has significant positive impact towards the outcome of a project. I learnt that community matters and social change can really become bigger than we even aimed for. "
"The togetherness I feel makes us feel unstoppable, like a difference will be made through our joined force. "
"This year has helped me become myself as I have been given a space to learn and grow amongst the best people ever. "
Are you passionate about making a difference to the world we live in? Would you like the opportunity to be part of a group of like-minded people who will support you to grow and find your voice? In October each year we open up applications for a new group of Embassadors to join our team. Keep an eye on our socials to see when applications open, or to keep up to date with any other events or opportunities to get involved!
If you would like to get in touch with us, you can email hello@dearem.nz or DM us through our socials. We are always happy to chat, explore your ideas, and answer any questions you might have!