Your Questions From Our 2020-2021 AGM
We were glad to have many of our Changing Minds whānau, Tall Trees and former Whakatau Mai Facilitators and Crew join us for our 2020-2021 AGM, held on 21 June 2022.
We asked for your thoughts and feedback to help us strengthen our connection to our Lived Experience community, and a summary of this AGM kōrero is below.
What do you expect from Changing Minds?
We heard that our whānau expect Changing Minds to be a strong voice for Lived Experience and pioneers that challenge the status quo to improve wellbeing equity and access for people with Lived Experience.
We know there is a huge amount of expertise within the Lived Experience community and our goal is to continue to collaborate with the community to work together to co-create change.
We also heard that our whānau expect us to be a strong voice for Lived Experience and to speak up on critical issues. One of these issues is language, and how we can use it well in kōrero, policy and health systems. As storytellers, Changing Minds and our community can lead by example in this space, and utilise our words and our voices to create change.
Our people want to feel heard, supported and nurtured by Changing Minds. We would like to acknowledge the reflections made by some of our whānau during the AGM who have experienced this support from us in the past. Your words warmed our hearts, thank you for sharing these memories with us.
Reconnecting after COVID-19 still has its challenges, but it’s something our team is actively considering. We encourage others in the community to let us know what support matters most to you, and how Changing Minds can reach and support you.
What do you want to see more of from Changing Minds?
Whakatau Mai was recognised as a valuable resource for our community during COVID-19 and we know that for many of us, the need for support that stemmed from the strains of the pandemic is ongoing. The critical question for us, that remains front of mind, is how we can continue to take these alternative ways of connecting and supporting each other forward in some form or another.
It was fantastic to hear your words of support for our mahi and that many of our whānau want us to be even more visible within our communities.
As we look to the future we are thinking even more about how we can reach and connect with people where they are and in ways that are accessible. We know there is no one size fits all approach, and some of the online tools adopted out of necessity during COVID-19 present challenges for some members of our community.
Diversity is a strength of our community that we need to celebrate and honour as we consider reach, inclusion and considerate access in future. If you have ideas on how we can improve in this area, please email our communications team to have a friendly kōrero - we’d love to hear from you!