Farewell from Tabby
A message from our Founder and Managing Director, Tabby:
After 13 years with the incredible privilege of leading InsideOUT, I’m sharing that this will be my last.
I founded InsideOUT in 2012 at the age of 19, driven by frustration at the education system’s inability to support rainbow young people to be safe at school. At the time there were only a handful of queer straight alliances in the country and schools were blocking young people from starting them. I could never have dreamed what has followed over the thirteen years since! The majority of secondary schools now have a rainbow group and resources to support them. We’ve delivered training and consultation to hundreds of organisations. We advocate for protective legislation and inclusive social policy. We run programmes that bring young people together to learn and connect, and perhaps, most importantly, let them know they’re not alone.
Last year, I made the difficult decision that 2025 would be my last in this role. I’m tired! The last few years have been increasingly challenging, with rising external pressures, particularly from right-wing and anti-trans, anti-queer attacks, that have targeted our work – and me personally. The current government is rolling back hard-won initiatives that support our communities. The need for our work has intensified.
Internally, we’ve reflected deeply on where we are and where we need to go. In particular, we’ve come to understand that we have a long way to go to truly uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi as an organisation and do better for Māori, within the organisation and out in our communities.
The challenges ahead are big and they deserve a leader who can navigate them with fresh energy, skill and care.
There will always be more you can do in a job like this, and it will never feel like enough. The work cannot ever be finished – especially when our communities rights are under threat. But I trust there are so many other people who can and will take care of the work ahead. I believe it’s the right time for InsideOUT to have a new leader step in, and the right time for me to step back.
I’m so proud of our team at InsideOUT and so deeply thankful for everyone that has contributed to and shaped our work from the early beginnings to now. InsideOUT wouldn’t be where it is without you, and it will take many more people to support it to thrive for years to come!
I’m excited to firstly get some rest! And secondly, turn to focus more on the other work I do as a counsellor, and continue to support our communities in new and different ways. For the rest of the year I’ll remain in my role and will be focused on supporting InsideOUT through this transition period.
So – we need someone to step up and lead this mahi! Please help share the job ad when it comes out shortly and help us find the right person to take InsideOUT through its next chapter, as we reset our strategy and look at how best to support our communities in increasingly difficult times. This work has been the dream of a queer teenager come to life in unimaginable ways, and I am hopeful it can now be someone else’s dream job to take it forward!