July has been a very busy month at Auckland Pride and following on from our recent Annual General Meeting, we have lots of news to share.
On Sunday 19 July we hosted our Annual General Meeting for 2020, and we’re incredibly pleased with the turnout, as our members gathered together as a community to reflect on the past year’s activities and celebrate the success of the 2020 Festival, our biggest yet.
With the AGM now past, we’re happy to be able to share our Annual Report with our community. It is full of stats on this year’s Festival and includes reports from our departing Chair, Cissy Rock, Director of Pride, Max Tweedie, and departing Treasurer, Duncan Matthews.
Our recent AGM also brought much change to the Board of Auckland Pride. The meeting sadly saw us farewell four board members, welcome three new members to the Board, and celebrate a returning member, all elected at the AGM. For more on the changes to the board, click here.
With the new board in place, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Robyn Vella and Kaan Hiini as Co-Chairpeople. On her appointment, Robyn Vella says, “I am pleased to have been elected as co-chair alongside Kaan, and am looking forward to working with the community and the Board to bring a fabulous 2021 Festival to Tāmaki Makaurau.” Kaan Hiini echoed the sentiment, saying “It has been a huge honour to serve on the board for the past year and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved. As we move towards 2021 with such a strong board and clear mandate from the membership, I’m excited to be able to contribute even more to the Festival, and it’s continued move towards an exciting future.”
Newly elected board member Micheal McCabe has been appointed to the role of Secretary. He says “I’m excited and honoured to be voted in as Secretary for the Auckland Pride Board. I hope to offer the membership and the board my skills and continue the great work of the previous secretary Kaan Hiini.”
Former youth advisor Kyle Habershon, who has worked closely with previous Treasurer Duncan Matthews over the past six months, has been appointed to the role of Treasurer. Habershon says, “After working alongside Duncan to learn the role of Treasurer I’m very excited to step into that role. I’m looking forward to working more closely with the board and staff team to ensure Auckland Pride continues as a place to celebrate and advocate for our rainbow communities.”
Auckland Pride Festival acknowledges the unique role of Tangata Whenua in Aotearoa and believes it is important to uphold a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. As such it wishes to better engage with Māori communities and organisations in Tāmkai Makaurau and further afield, with a focus on supporting and advocating for those who identify as takatāpui.
One of the ways we aim to achieve this is by amplifying the voices of takatāpui at a governance level, through the introduction of a Takatāpui Representative. This board position is appointed by a takatāpui-led decision-making process independent of the board. As written into our constitution at our SGM in June it requires any representatives to be appointed by a Māori rōpu at a dedicated hui. We believe this will create more opportunities to advocate for Takatāpui needs and inclusion in the festival.
Shortly, our Tikanga Takatāpui Activator will be calling for expressions of interest to become the Takatāpui Representative for the board of Auckland Pride. Once these applications have been received we’ll hold a focused hui for takatāpui that will both explore the needs of our Māori and Takatāpui whānau and work toward electing a Takatāpui from these applicants.
More details about this process will be shared very soon and we invite any who would like to stay updated on the hui to register their interest with the Secretary, via the email [email protected].
Thanks to a world cafe style workshop held immediately before the formalities of the AGM began, the AGM also facilitated much in-depth discussion around matters raised by our membership as being important to the continued development of our rainbow communities and the growth of the Auckland Pride Festival.
These included conversations about the Theme for the 2021 Festival, ways Auckland Pride can better support the participation of ethnic minorities in the Festival, our relationship with the NZ Police, our membership in InterPride, and LGBTQIA+ identification in our membership.
From these discussions, the following motions were formed and brought to the floor during General AGM Business. The following motions were carried with the support of an overwhelming majority of all members present
Auckland Pride is proud to be a membership-lead organisation that creates a space for open discussion with our membership, listening to and acting on the concerns raised by our members. As with all motions raised at the AGM, ultimately any decisions rest with our membership and as a board, we stand with our members, supporting all of the motions carried.
Following the decisions made at the Annual General Meeting, the board of Auckland Pride has shared with the NZ Police the details of the motion outlining the conditions for any relationship between Auckland Pride and the NZ Police. We await their response and will keep our membership informed of any developments.
Auckland Pride has also withdrawn our membership with InterPride. Our members have made it clear they feel the values of InterPride and the associated World Pride events are mis-aligned with the values of Auckland Pride. Because of this any relationship with InterPride is seen as problematic for Auckland Pride, not reflecting the activism and kaupapa of Auckland Pride or its membership. Instead, we are committed to exploring other options, working toward building a coalition of progressive, community-led Pride celebrations both here and around the world.
These motions set a clear mandate for Auckland Pride, making it clear how important it is for us as an organisation to stay true to the values agreed upon by our members. They also establish a huge work plan for the board and we will need the support of our active membership to deliver this work over the next year. Any members of our community who would like to contribute to this mahi, ultimately strengthening the Festival to better serve our diverse rainbow communities are invited to register their interest by emailing [email protected]
Our Boosted campaign had just closed, with more than 420 supporters having raised $24,120 to support “Where it matters”, a new initiative spearheaded by Auckland Pride in conjunction with our friends at Boosted.
The funds raised will be used to support and shine a light on seven initiatives that will showcase brilliance, uplift artists, and give space to QTBIPOC and Takatāpui in Aotearoa. Included within this campaign are:
We’re so proud of all of these initiatives and will keep our community updated over the coming weeks and months, as details around each of these unfold.
Finally, we want to share our thanks and acknowledgement for all of the hard work put in by the Auckland Pride whānau. This family is made up of a board of elected volunteers who guide the organisation’s strategic vision and direction. This governance work has been greatly supported and enabled by our Director of Pride, Max Tweedie, who as our sole, near full-time staff member, deals with much of the operational side of Pride, ensuring things get done. We also rely on a raft of other people who give their time thinking and energy to support what Auckland Pride does.
We welcome all messages from our membership and encourage open and honest dialogue with the board. Any concerns or queries may be submitted directly to the board via our emails, through our membership portal or through our online feedback form.
Take care, and stay safe.
Nāku noa, nā,
The Board of Auckland Pride Festival
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