Forty-five exceptional rangatahi Māori and Pasifika young minds from high schools across Aotearoa were united in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland for three days over the recent school holidays to attend the entrepreneurial education programme, ‘Young Navigators,’ by Young Enterprise Trust. This year Wesley College was fortunate enough to have three students selected to attend this event: Marlena Kilifi, KJ Ale and Hu’i Vaka.
The initiative, sponsored by One NZ, with Pacific Business Trust, and New Zealand Māori Tourism. The event is designed to immerse Māori and Pasifika students in three days of enterprise-focused activities to connect, collaborate and learn. The programme is a fusion between the organisation’s flagship programme, ‘Young Enterprise Scheme,’ and a fast-paced startup weekend.
In teams, the students were hosted by one of seven New Zealand companies; One NZ, ARA Journeys, Spark Foundation, Deloitte, Grid Auckland, Pacific Business Trust and Ngahere Communities who mentored the students as they tackled ‘The One NZ Business Challenge’. Students were challenged to create a business leveraging technology and innovation to build a resilient food system, improving any aspect of the food supply chain with the aim to address and alleviate the burden of food insecurities for whanau in Aotearoa.
Team Ara Journeys took out first place in the 36-hour business challenge with their innovative solution addressing the challenge. The winning team included Wesley’s very own Hu’i Vaka! The team was guided by mentor, Rosa Merideth, and company host from Ara Journeys, Amber Taylor. The judges were impressed by the teams’ plausible business plan and the scalability of their idea.
Hu’i reflected on the programme saying “Going to the Young Navigators of 2024 was an amazing experience. During the trip I was able to meet different people from different parts of New Zealand. The people in my group were friendly towards each other and me, and for our idea, we decided we should create an online friendly platform which allowed farmers to sell their produce on our platform. With this idea we were able to win the challenge.
I would highly recommend this experience to future business students especially if you want to learn and develop new skills in being a leader and in communicating effectively. I learnt that by connecting with each other, and trusting one another, and with that it will ultimately be the key to success.”
The three Wesley College Young Navigators participants were chosen from applicants who are all participating in The Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) programme. The YES programme has over 5000 participants, who create and run their own businesses throughout the school year as a part of the entrepreneurial education programme. This year Wesley College has entered seven teams in the YES programme:
Year 12 - 1Hunnid; Strive; Powered by God; Spotless In n Out
Year 13 - Mailina Products; ATP Shirts; Custom Mitt$
Student businesses are currently busy preparing for Challenge 2 of the YES programme. On Friday, 7 June, the teams will be pitching their business idea to a panel of judges which includes Wesley old boy TJ Asiata, owner and CEO of LM4 Group. A week later, on Thursday 13 June, all seven teams will be launching their YES products at their market evening. The launch will be held in the Rec Foyer and Room P from 3:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. All parents, friends and community are invited to join us in support of our YES business teams.