Launching your global career

“As an individual you cannot change the world, but as a community you can”

Jazz Thornton is a woman climbing a mountain. It’s a very high and very steep mountain and most days she can’t see the top, but she knows she has to keep climbing, climbing for those who can’t climb right now and for those who have had to stop climbing altogether.

The 26 year old has a well-publicised battle with mental health. As a child she suffered abuse and bullying which resulted in 14 suicide attempts the first when she was just 12 years old. 

Following her final suicide attempt at age 20, a friends helped Jazz realised she wasn’t fighting simply surviving. This realisation provided the catalyst for her to start healing and to channel her energy into helping others. 

“When I was growing up no one was talking about suicide. As a country we were just starting to talk about mental health. People like John Kirwan were making some good progress with men’s mental health, but no one was talking about youth suicide, and no one was offering hope that things could get better” 

In 2014, Jazz along with her friend and co-founder Genevieve Mora launched ‘Voices of Hope’ the two women drew on their own survival stories to reach out and connect with others. 

“We wanted others to know there is hope, that they are not alone, we wanted families and friends of those struggling with mental illness to know that it can get better.”

Since the launch of ‘Voices of Hope’ Jazz’s profile has grown enormously, she’s written two books and is currently working on a third, she’s directed movies and videos, given Ted talks and speaks in schools around the country. She’s received numerous accolades including 2021 Young New Zealander of the Year. She’s worked with the likes of Prince Harry and Megan Markle and the United Nations to bring the subject of youth suicide to the international stage. 

But her success didn’t come without a lot of sacrifice. 

“I haven’t really talked about this, but there were years when I was everywhere, giving Ted talks, directing my first movie, speaking at schools, but I had no money. I was on a benefit and had barely enough to survive, sometimes I wouldn’t eat for two days because I couldn’t afford food. I didn’t want to ask for help because I was ashamed of how I was living. People often only see the successes, they don’t always realise what it takes to get there.” 

Despite the struggles Jazz started to realise her work was making a difference when she started receiving messages from survivors and their families telling her that without her help they couldn’t have made it through. 

“For me those messages are my ‘why.’ The change I see happening is why I keep doing this, why I will never give up. My advice to anyone will always be to know your ‘why’ and never let it go. 

Jazz’s aim is to create campaigns and projects that reach millions of people, and in order to do that she says the most important tools are community and connections. 

“Your community is so important, you have to surround yourself with people who stand by you, who take the calls at 3am. The people who support your fight but also force you to take time out for yourself, to make sure you have a balance and the energy to keep going.”

“I knew I couldn’t create change alone so I kept pushing myself into rooms full of people who could help. I connected with the Sir Stephen Tindall’s of the world, the media, John Kirwan, Youthline, the NZ police, anyone I thought could help promote my message. The late Kiwi Philanthropist Adrian Burr became a dear friend, he believed in what we were doing and provided support and funding to keep us going.”

Jazz’s dream is a society where anyone who needs help can get it straight away without question or red tape. She wants to see New Zealand relinquish our title of the ‘country with the highest youth suicide stats’ and to see all the talk and promises around addressing our mental health problem turn into action. It’s a huge change, a very steep mountain to climb, but she’s never giving up. 

“I completely, definitely, 100% believe, as a country, we can get there, as long as there are people willing to be part of the change. The fact that I am still here means that I have to fight for those who no longer are, I have to fight to help create the kind of society that would have allowed them to live.”

A natural born storyteller Manukaroa Anderson studied screenwriting and production, before working in television and digital video. In 2018 she was ready for a new challenge, so she enrolled in Te Whare Hukahuka’s Governance and Leadership course. A programme aimed at creating leaders committed to changing the lives of indigenous people.

“I was at a stage in my life where I was ready to move from being a rangatahi into a rangatira. In the Māori sense ranga means to weave and tahi means one, so a rangatahi is the ability to weave. You are at a stage in your life where you are able to take care of one person, of yourself. Whereas rangatira, tira is the many, so you have the ability to take care of lots of people, of yourself, your whānau, your hapū and your iwi.”

After completing the course Manukaroa started working with businesses and community groups helping them identify what Māori capacity and capability looks like both externally and internally for their business and teaching them how to better engage with the public through communication and storytelling. She says most businesses want to be more inclusive and are ready to embrace the challenges that come along with it.

“Change is hard, it’s always hard and it’s always confronting. It’s having to look at things that you may not have considered before and when you do see them you may not like some of the things you find.”

When COVID hit and the country was plunged into lockdown, Manukaroa says many businesses suddenly had time to reflect on what it is they want to be known for. 

“COVID has really given companies the time to realign themselves to the values that are important to them. During that realignment they have been able to look at practises which have been ingrained systematically within their business and examine what they would like to do better. What I have found is that one, businesses know they need to change and two, they are willing to do that, from board level all the way down.”

Being a bicultural organisation in Aotearoa is backed by Government strategy and Manukaroa says its important businesses and community groups get on board.

“Businesses are a huge part of our society and could have a huge influence in a better bicultural and indeed multicultural society. If I can help make those small changes internally and externally in their organisations then I think that we are a big step closer to building a better society.”

And it’s the idea of a better society that keeps her focused on her goal.

“First and foremost, I’m a māmā. So, when I think about the future, I do think about the world that my children are going to inherit, that my mokopuna are going to be living and thriving in. I think about what I am doing now that’s going to have a positive influence on the next generation.”

“I am really driven by the aspirations for biculturalism in Aotearoa, I see a future where there is a lot more time and space and desire to be bicultural. Within the Māori culture we talk about Whakapapa, our relationships, the way in which we connect to one another and also how we connect to our past and our future. Whakapapa is an acknowledgement that you are part of a bigger ecosystem, that what you do affects others around you. That you are a product of those who come before you and a platform for those who come after you.”