Tegan Benseman and Dr Sara Simmons at Future of Work 2024.
This great story emerged after our involvement in the Graeme Dingle Foundation Marlborough 2024 Future of Work. “Future of Work” is a conference for rangatahi (young people) in Marlborough. This highly successful conference showcases what the workplace of tomorrow looks like for our local youth – and inspires them to become part of the region’s future. Future of Work supports students whether they’re headed to university, into trades, or have no idea what they want to do after school – helping all young people in Wairau to discover a purposeful pathway into their future.
We think it’s an amazing opportunity for rangatahi to explore loads of different career opportunities in one day – and that’s why we have been involved and supportive from the beginning! For us, showing up to event like the Future of Work is super important. We firmly believe it’s crucial for rangatahi to see people who come from backgrounds like them in all kinds of careers.
Like Tegan, who in 2019 was a Pasifika student at Marlborough Girls’ College (MGC) and had a kōrero with Dr Sara at this event. Sara (Ngāi Tahu) also went to MGC, comes from a background of some significant challenges in her childhood, and went on to be the first in her whānau to ever go to university. Tegan talks of how this inspired her to see possibilities where she previously hadn’t, and she is now back in Wairau in her fifth year of medical school, inspiring a generation of her own.
Check out this clip of Sara and Tegan sharing a bit more about this – ka rawe!