Nōku te Ao Social Action Grants winners 2025

We’re proud to announce the wonderful organisations and individuals who have been awarded the 2025 Nōku te Ao Social Action Grants. These kaupapa-driven projects are bold, creative, and rooted in lived experience. Together, they challenge stigma, spark kōrero, and help build a more inclusive Aotearoa where people experiencing mental distress are met with understanding, dignity, and care. Mīharo!

Learn more about our 2025 grantees and their amazing mahi below:

Voice of Aroha will create Between Two Worlds, a podcast series centering the voices of refugees and migrants as they navigate questions about cultural identity, mental distress, and stigma and discrimination in Aotearoa. The series challenges harmful narratives by weaving lived experience stories together with insights from experts and community leaders, helping to build greater understanding and inclusion.

Led by Charlizza Matehe, Toi Matarua will deliver The Ihi Camp – a touring theatre and workshop programme that brings together kapa haka, dance, music, and spoken word to spark open kōrero around mental distress, grief, and suicide. Through creative expression, the project supports rangatahi Māori and their whānau to connect, heal, and engage in honest conversations.  

Samantha Sanders will lead the Aorere Mirror Room, an immersive public installation combining video monologues from tāngata whaiora with mirrored surfaces and reflective prompts. The experience encourages people to slow down, sit with their thoughts, and question what they think they know, drawing on lived experience storytelling to break down stigma and prompt personal reflection.

Tha Movement is a Pasifika-led initiative by David Saotupe using hip hop, spoken word, and community wānanga to challenge stigma and discrimination experienced by Pasifika youth living with mental distress. Creative expression, talanoa, and mentoring sit at the heart of the project, supporting cultural identity while helping shift attitudes over the long term.

This kaupapa Māori initiative addresses the stigma and discrimination faced by Māori living with eating disorders and mental distress. Harnessing the power of wānanga, pūrākau, and creative activations, Ngā Māuiui Kai challenges stereotypes and helps shift how health systems respond to Māori experiencing eating disorders.

Led by Jade Hakaraia and Guardians of HOPE Aotearoa, Aroha Mai, Aroha Atu is a whānau-centered initiative focused on reducing mental distress stigma within homes and communities. Through tools like the Kete Whānau toolkit, Ako workshops, story cards, and pūrākau recordings, the project helps whānau respond with aroha and create more open, inclusive ways of supporting one another.