Wao Charitable Trust has announced that author, Fulbright scholar and former Afghan refugee. Abbas Nazari, will speak at it’s annual sustainability summit alongside other young changemakers later this month. 

Nazari was just seven when he was rescued by the MV Tampa containership from a sinking boat in the Indian Ocean while fleeing the Taliban in 2001, before being resettled to New Zealand. He has documented the formative experience in his number one bestselling memoir, After The Tampa, which will also be on sale at the Summit. He will be joined by other young voices of influence such as Project Blue creator Savannah Walker, School Strike 4 Climate NZ founder Sophie Handford, corporate lawyer turned neuro linguistic programming coach, Briony McKenzie, among others. 

Co-founder Arna Craig says it is a privilege to have young speakers of such high calibre. “For us to achieve our goal of reducing collective carbon emissions and creating a fully sustainable community we need our youth to buy-in. The younger generation are the ones who will carry the torch, so to be able to attract thought leaders who can really identify with this demographic is a huge win and a valuable asset to our community,” Craig said.

Nazari, who has recently returned to New Zealand as a graduate of Georgetown University in the United States, will be speaking on the mental health challenges facing refugee and immigrant children, and what you can do to help. Project Blue’s Walker will front a screening of ‘For the Blue,’ a film that highlights how we are contributing to the global waste crisis, while Handford will talk on Climate Action and how to get involved. NLP coach, Mckenzie, will be bringing her expertise to the know your money workshop.

Olivia Bonifant, summit program coordinator, says youth are vital to collective community progression. “As a young person myself coming to grips with the state of the world, I am passionate about encouraging my generation to step up and take note. We have a huge task ahead of us if we are to make a real difference and we need all hands on deck. This is our future, and we can’t wait for others to fix it,” Bonifant said. 

The Wao Summit is a six-day event focused on mainstreaming and fostering diversity. Providing a 360 degree approach to creating and fostering tangible, social and environmental change at every level, the summit has over 40 different korero, workshops, films and tours on offer. For more information and to book go to wao.co.nz/gettickets.