Ngā kōrero / Information
Rangatahi Voices is a zine by Katya Keyzerova, our Summer 2026 intern. It follows four creatives who came up through the YANZ community, and asks each of them the same questions: what does your work look like now, how did you get here, and what would you tell someone starting out?
Ngā tāngata / Who's inside
- Jimmy Earle, musician. First performed for YANZ in 2018, and now works as a cruise musician sailing around Aotearoa, Australia and the Pacific.
- Dani Hao-Aickin, project manager and creative producer. Played one of the first YANZ Open Mics in 2018, stepped into a project management role in 2022, and now runs a week made up of five different jobs.
- Abbey Barlow, graphic designer at Zuru Edge. Freelanced for YANZ on impact reports, Young at Art and the Creativision brand before moving into full-time design.
- Tristin Katoa, event contractor. Joined the 2024 Event Pathways Programme cohort and now works across site management, stage setup and the film industry.
My advice is to love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life.
Tō mātou kaupapa / Our purpose
A closing chapter, Behind YANZ, traces the organisation from a school arts council at Northcote College to a national charity, with co-leaders Harrison Sugrue and Chloe Bettina on what the mahi looks like today and where it goes next.
The through line across all six kōrero is the one we keep hearing: young creatives don't need permission so much as a first paid opportunity, a community, and someone willing to back them.
Ngā mihi / Thanks
Thank you to Jimmy Earle, Dani Hao-Aickin, Abbey Barlow, Tristin Katoa, Harrison Sugrue and Chloe Bettina for sharing their stories, and to Katya for bringing the zine to life. Event Pathways Programme photos by Julie Zhu.
