We officially kicked off the 2025 Dear Em Leadership Programme in February, with two jam-packed weekends of learning, connecting, and planning together! This year we welcomed 8 new embassadors into the Dear Em Leadership Programme, alongside 10 returning embassadors, bringing our team to a total of 18 young people who are passionate about ending sexual violence in their communities. This is our largest team ever, as well as our biggest new cohort, so we are excited to see all the new perspectives and ideas that come with this incredible team.
The 4 training days we spend together at the start of each year give us a chance to learn more about each other, and dive into important topics like intersectional feminism, social change, te ao Māori, leadership, and sexual violence prevention. Another important part of this time we spend together as a new team is setting our vision and brainstorming what we want to do through Dear Em for the year ahead.
Since then, we have been getting stuck into our plans for the year. So far, the team have spent time exploring ideas for involvement in this year’s pride activities, and what we might like to do to engage with pride in the future. We have also started planning for Rape Awareness Week, coming up in May, and what events and topics we are wanting to tackle this year. Additionally, we have been excited to see opportunities coming up for our team and community already, including the ‘#MeToo: A Cultural Shift? Young People, Social Media, and Sexual Harassment’ research seminar that embassadors Erica, Ennia and Bhaviniwere able to attend in Wellington, and a re-invitation to guest lecture in the Pastoral Care and Counselling in Schools course at the University of Auckland which we are coordinating with our young leaders for May.
We are so excited for another inspiring, full year ahead, as we continue to support our embassadors to learn, grow, and lead in our community! Keep an eye on our socials @dearem.nz to stay updated on all our content and activities in 2025!