The 2022 Speaker and Networking Series (SNS) kicked off on Thursday 24th of February with Mervin Singham, Chief Executive at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities. The conversation was moderated by MYLN Member, Justine Roberts.

At the event, Mervin spoke about his leadership journey and answered questions from our virtual audience. He touched on the importance of diversity and inclusion in New Zealand, imposter syndrome, honouring Te Tiriti as tauiwi, increasing ethnic representation in leadership.

Mervin ended on a powerful message to our young people tuning in to the event:

“I hope you pave the way for the leaders that come after you, so conversations like this seem ancient because everyone sees they have equal opportunities, they feel they belong, they feel they can contribute and that they are part of society like everybody else. We can only make the change if we participate in it.”

The 2022 Speaker and Networking series is made possible through the generous support of KPMG New Zealand. The Series aims to inspire, educate and empower the next generation of ethnically diverse leaders in Aotearoa, normalise the presence of underrepresented peoples in positions of influence, and further the discourse on diversity, equity and leadership in the workplace.