A Tauranga teen who wowed judges with a powerful speech about race relations has been invited to be a guest speaker at this year's New Zealand Diversity Forum.
On Wednesday Aquinas College student Kimberly D'Mello, 17, will speak alongside London bombing survivor and global peace advocate Gill Hicks, New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush, Professor of Diversity Dr Edwina Pio, NZ Work Research Institute co-director Gail Pacheco and and Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy.
"I really admire the work they do. It will be quite amazing to speak alongside these amazing people. I'm so lucky to have all these opportunities," Miss D'Mello said. "I admire Dame Susan Devoy quite a lot, so yeah, it's a pretty big thing."
In May, Miss D'Mello won this year's New Zealand Race Unity Speech Competition which more than 170 Year 11 to 13 students competed in.
Miss D'Mello, who was born in India but spent most of her life in New Zealand, said she had not experienced racism directly but had seen and heard it.
Despite the acclaim, she was surprised when Dame Susan contacted her to ask if she would repeat the speech at this year's forum, organised by the Human Rights Commission.
"I was quite shocked. But I'm privileged and honoured to have been asked," Miss D'Mello told the Bay of Plenty Times.
The New Zealand Diversity Forum is a platform designed to bring together individuals and organisations to share ideas and good practice on cultural diversity and positive race relations. It was created in 2004 following a community response to the desecration of two Jewish Cemeteries.
Keynote speaker Gill Hicks is a double amputee as a result of the London Bombings in July 2005. In 2007 Dr Hicks founded the not for profit organisation MAD for Peace and has grown an international reputation for her work confronting violent extremism. "I think it will give me a great opportunity to meet a lot of amazing people in my life that I can always go to for advice or for help and just talk with these incredible leaders in society. That will be an amazing thing," Miss D'Mello said.
Miss D'Mello said nerves had not really kicked in yet but she expected they would over the next couple of days. "I'm more confident than I was the first few times I said it," she said.
Miss D'Mello has been busy this year using her speech prize of $1000 to help set up a Tauranga branch of StarJam, which aims to give young people with disabilities the opportunity to take part in performing arts.
"It's been quite a highlight - this year. I'm just loving life at the moment," Miss D'Mello said.