Young Hawke’s Bay woman Lena Ormsby named as Y25 changemaker

Ex-Karamu High School student Lena Ormsby was named on YWCA’s 2024 Y25 list in recognition of her work as a 'changemaker'. Photo / YWCA

A young wāhine advocate from Hawke’s Bay has been recognised as one of 25 leading youth “changemakers”.

Lena Ormsby (Waikato Maniapoto, Ngāpuhi), ex-Karamu High School student, was named on YWCA’s 2024 Y25 list of 25 wāhine and tāhine (mixed gender, sometimes non-binary: a blend of tāne and wahine) aged 25 years and under, who are doing incredible things for their communities and the world.

The final 25 for the fifth edition of the list were chosen from more than 100 nominations and were announced in Tāmaki Makaurau on Friday.

Ormsby has a strong record as a speech and debate champion, winning the prestigious Ngā Manu Kōrero Te Matau a Māui Speech Competition three years in a row and the Tohu Eke Panuku-Human Rights Commission Award for Impact at the national Race Unity Speech Awards last year while she was a student.

She started on the Hastings District Youth Council in 2021, chairing it in 2022 and advising in 2023.

Her favourite role this year involves promoting a youth voice within parliamentary structures as one of eight youth representatives on Rito o te Pāremata, Parliament’s Youth Reference Group, which she is chairing.

She is in her first year studying a conjoint law and global studies degree, majoring in human rights and global politics, at the University of Auckland.

She was driven to those subjects by her passion for advocacy and she hoped to eventually work at the United Nations as a Māori diplomat or become a judge, although nothing about her future was set in stone yet.

“It is all open and I like that,” Ormsby said.

She is working as a promotions and management officer for UN Youth NZ, to help run their 2024 Model Local Democracy Forum event.

She was still passionate about race relations and was looking for opportunities to work within that space.

“I’d really love to get back into a space where I can work within and about race relations in Aotearoa.”

When asked how she found the time of day to do all of her extracurricular commitments on top of her studies, she credited the support of her “good group of friends”.

She said her inclusion in the Y25 list was a fantastic networking opportunity for her and she had already enjoyed meeting some of the others on the list and hearing their stories.

Genna Hawkins-Boulton (Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Ruahine) Associate YWCA Tāmaki Makaurau and Y25 programme lead, said Y25 showed the different ways people can succeed in Aotearoa.

“When looking at the extraordinary rōpū of wāhine and tāhine leaders across the motu, you can’t help but feel like our future is in good hands.”

Dellwyn Stuart, CEO of YWCA Tāmaki Makaurau, said Aotearoa had an abundance of remarkable young leaders.

“Every one of this year’s Y25 is an inspiration - a story of community, change and grit.”

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on the environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz