More than 90 female and gender-diverse students across Wellington have explored future career pathways through a series of Inspiring the Future events delivered as part of the Wellington E2E (Education-to-Employment) Centre’s Full-STEAMM programme.
The programme, which empowers Year 9–13 students to become future-ready talent in science, technology, engineering, arts and creativity, mathematics and manufacturing (STEAMM), hosted events at Wellington High School, Wellington East Girls’ College and with the Ministry of Education (MoE) 2026 Pathways Ethnic Youth Hub.
The Pathways Ethnic Youth Hub event brought together students from refugee and migrant backgrounds in Porirua with role models from organisations including Porirua City Council, New Zealand National Refugee Youth Council and New Zealand Police.
In a competition-style format, students worked in teams to guess role models’ professions by asking questions before the roles were revealed.
“The competitive nature of the event definitely helped,” organisers said. “There was a lot of chatter and students tried very hard to guess.”
A standout question from one student was: “What difference do you make or hope to make in your job?”
Deepa, Waste Minimisation Advisor at Porirua City Council, highlighted the importance of empathy in her work. “Behaviour change means being able to connect with everyone from a three-year-old to a 100-year-old,” she said. She also described encouraging sustainable habits as “a slow, tedious, delicate and deliberate process.”
Yibeth, National Youth Engagement Lead at the New Zealand National Refugee Youth Council, shared how volunteering helped launch her career. “When older people trust and invest in young people, meaningful change happens,” observed Yibeth.
Weiwei, Ethnic Senior Officer with New Zealand Police, spoke about how her culture and identity shaped her policing career. “Police encourage you to be yourself, which is important to succeed,” she said.
Reflecting on the event, Deepa added: “Thank you for giving me this opportunity. It was really important for immigrant and refugee wāhine to see that hard work can make anything possible in this amazing country.”
The events are part of the Full-STEAMM programme, an enabler project within the Wellington Regional Economic Development Plan 2022–2032, helping build a more diverse and future-ready STEAMM workforce for the region.
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