Meet Gloria Tuitupou (24) and Noah Te Atakura Brown (23).
These two young Aucklanders have become leaders in their communities. Noah and Gloria are leading pioneering projects where rangatahi aged 15-24 are in charge of decisions about youth investment in their neighbourhoods.
Alongside many other rangatahi, they are leading initiatives that create pathways for young people to build confidence in work, in learning and in life, supported by Auckland Council’s Community Wellbeing Department as part of a participatory budgeting programme.
By community, for community
Following a pilot funded by Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board in partnership with co-investors Foundation North and Department of Internal Affairs, the local board now invests annually in this high-impact, locally delivered participatory budgeting programme.
Auckland Council Māori and Youth Development Specialist Advisor, Keziah Campbell, says young people thrive when they feel seen, heard, and supported right where they live.
“Locally delivered, community-led programmes aren’t just about activities, they build trusted local networks, foster a sense of pride, and give young people the confidence to shape their own futures,” Keziah says.
Chair of the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board Debbie Burrows explains how participatory grant-making has trust at its foundation.
“This model is working well. It’s a high trust model. We don’t go in thinking - we want this outcome, and this is how we get there - because it's a journey. It's a ride. We bring the whole table with us.
“In the pilot we were incredibly fortunate. Rangatahi brought their ideas forward, and 19 projects were funded. The leadership we’ve seen in this has been impressive.
“From a council perspective, this is a new way of working. We've been trialling for quite a while. And now we have a range of tailored approaches, all co-designed locally,” she says.
Since 2022, Auckland Council has been involved in piloting participatory grant-making in three areas across Tāmaki Makaurau: west, east and central Auckland.
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki and Waitematā Local Boards led the initial pilots.
The voices of rangatahi
Gloria Tuitupou and a friend.
Gloria works with the Rise Group based in Glen Innes, which in turn supports Youth4Sure, a participatory grant-making project where rangatahi were able to design and deliver a community grants scheme.
Gloria says the idea for the Rise project was born out of Tāmaki College who wanted to address some social challenges impacting students in the school.
Youth4Sure funds all sorts of diverse activities, big and small, ranging from weekly sports, arts, circus, podcasting, dance activities to internships and leadership development.
“It's truly been a privilege to work alongside the rangatahi involved in Youth4Sure, supporting them as active community leaders and decision makers.
“Our Youth4Sure group and journey has been really well supported by a number of people including our co-funders, led by Maungakiekie Tāmaki Local Board.
“By stepping back from traditional funder roles and listening to rangatahi, they enabled and empowered our local rangatahi to step forward as true leaders and decision-makers. This has been a big part in uplifting our rangatahi to realise their potential and step into leadership,” Gloria says.
Noah works with Community Think and coordinates Meantime - a youth events channel, and Maketime - incubator workshops where rangatahi get to work with mentors to design and lead activities they want to see happen in their neighbourhoods.
“There is brilliance all around,” Noah says.
Noah Te Atakura.
“Through facilitating our Maketime incubators and attending the new events that emerged from them, it fills my heart to be able to support young people’s aspirations and give them the space to learn, grow and find their own purpose within their communities.
“Whether that is putting on Recharge Spaces for students to meet and study together, Nutritional Third Spaces to teach their community about healthy eating, or hosting upcycling workshops to counter fast fashion – young people have the ideas and ability to make change,” he says.
Noah, who is also a poet, was inspired by the theme for Youth Week in 2025 which was all about youth deserving to be heard.
“I remember sitting there thinking how does that relate to me? My focus has always been community. But I participated in the weekend with a bunch of youth. We all had had these ideas about having our voices heard. We wrote a rap called ‘Revolution’. And so the song was performed and we did a full streaming platform. We all learned so much,” he says.
Auckland Council Head of Community Impact, Dickie Humpries, is thrilled to see innovative ways of funding achieving what was intended, and in the process giving young people like Noah and Gloria a chance to shine.
“We wanted to find new ways of working where we could empower communities to identify priorities, and influence how funding was allocated in their local areas to address those priorities. We are shifting decision-making to the communities themselves, fostering a more inclusive and responsive approach to resource allocation,” he says.