On Purpose

A speaker night challenging what social impact and leadership looks like.

On Tuesday 22, September 2020 UniCrew hosted On Purpose - a social impact speaker night that celebrated the many shapes and forms that social impact and leadership come in. You don’t have to wear a suit, have a formal position, or start an NGO to make social impact ripples (and maybe waves).

We invited some known, unknown, expected and unexpected social impact legends to share their stories and challenge our 80 student audience on what social impact and leadership looks like across an evening of informal interviews. Hosted at Catalyst Kitchen and generously funded by Canon, through their support of the University of Otago Student Leadership Award.

Who where these legends, you ask?

SHIT YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT
We were borderline starry eyed and open mouthed to welcome two of the amazing wahine behind Shit You Should Care About (SYSCA), an Instagram global phenomenon bringing news to the people in a dynamic new way. In their own words, they “whole-bloody-heartedly believe that we should all be able to understand the news/the world around us because it’s happening to all of us. So that’s exactly what we help to do. We cut through the bullshit, the jargon, the clickbait, the “fake news,” the paywalls - all of the shit that makes information feel inaccessible - and make it accessible (with a few Harry Styles pictures thrown in there for good measure).”

GULED MIRE
This guy! Guled is a “former refugee high school dropout” (his words) with a heart on fire for advancing the social wellbeing, inclusion and development of New Zealand’s ethnic and former refugee communities. Guled was discouraged from pursuing a higher education and left at 16. BUT THEN he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, which we see him build a home at the Ivy League at Cornell University in the USA.

TOM OF CATALYST DUNEDIN
How did a construction worker come to create a space for mindful eating and sustainable, conscious consuming? Tom shared this unexpected story with us, while students soaked the story up vie the beautiful space and delicious food. Catalyst Kitchen inspired healthier communities by connecting people to real food.