2024/2025 ANNUAL REPORT InsideOUT KŌARO TATŪ KI ROTO, TATŪ KI WAHO Annual Report July 2024 - June 2025 CONTACT support@insideout.org.nz 0273314507 Facebook: facebook.com/insideoutkoaro Instagram: instagram.com/insideoutkoaro ABOUT US Who we are | Ko wai mātou? InsideOUT Kōaro is a national charity providing resources, education, consulting and support for anything concerning rainbow and takatāpui communities. We offer guidance, professional development and workshops for schools, workplaces and community organisations across Aotearoa. Our vision | Ko te Whakakitenga InsideOUT Kōaro’s vision is for all rainbow young people in Aotearoa New Zealand to have a sense of safety and belonging in their schools and communities. Our mission | Ko te Uaratanga Our two-part mission is: 1. To work with youth, whānau, schools, community groups, youth services, government agencies and other relevant organisations to provide safer schools and communities for rainbow (LGBTQIA+) and takatāpui young people. 2. To foster the building and provision of resources, education, information, hui and relevant tools which work to improve the health, wellbeing and safety of rainbow and takatāpui people throughout Aotearoa. Our Services Currently, InsideOUT Kōaro aims to provide the following services: * Providing education and consultation about rainbow and takatāpui communities * Managing and operating a range of youth-focussed projects and campaigns * Producing, sharing, and promoting resources that align with our vision * Supporting schools to be more rainbow-inclusive * Creating regional and national education and networking opportunities * Advocating for the rights and visibility of rainbow communities OUR STAFF: Note: there have been some staff changes since June 2025; this is not a current list of staff. National Staff: Managing Director - Tabby Besley Operations and Engagement Manager - (Edie Freeman, Petazae Thoms) School Services Manager - Dando (Ben Mills) Workplace Services Development Lead - Rosie Leadbitter Workplace Services Delivery Lead - Emmett Roberts Kaihāpai Takatāpui - (Atirau Jensen-Whakataka) Kaitautoko Takatāpui Kura Kaupapa - (Ruataupare Russell) Communications Coordinator - June Stephens (River Ayto) Funding and Finance Coordinator - Red Carley Volunteer and Community Engagement Coordinator - (Riwhi Kenny) Schools Campaigns Coordinator - Hannah Darling Respectful Relationships Coordinator - Jess Hume (Dando) Training Coordinator - Jaz Alexander Shift Hui Coordinator - Meihana Pōtiki-Grayling Pacific Competency Coordinator - Saviiey Nua Resource Development Lead - Alex Ker Aro ki te Hā Resource Development - Johan Kettle Regional Schools Coordinators: Te Tai Tokerau / Northland - Merryn Bowman (Kirsty Harnden) Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland Schools Coordinator - Eryka Djentuh (Michelle) Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland Schools Coordinator - Valentina Serrano (Sisifa) Te Moana-a-Toi / Bay of Plenty Schools Coordinator - Danae Waikato - Cami Carty-Melis (Rachel Kuysten) Taranaki - (Dando) Whanganui - (Zenica Mann) Manawatū - Jules Collinson Te Tairāwhiti - (Jordan Walker) Te Matau-a-Māui / Hawkes Bay - (Kirstie Lovesy) Te Ūpoko o Te Ika a Māui / Wellington - Val Little Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka-a-Māui / Nelson, Tasman, Marlborough - (Aroha) Waitaha / Canterbury - Mason Malcolm + Lara Te Tai Poutini - (Sam Duckor-Jones) Ōtākou / Otago - Meihana Pōtiki-Grayling Murihiku / Southland - (Charmin Dahl) InsideOUT also has a team of contracted facilitators that support our mahi delivering education across Aotearoa. We extend our greatest thanks to them for all the expertise and skills they bring to supporting workplaces, businesses, government agencies, community organisations and mental health and addiction services to upskill and become more rainbow competent and inclusive services. We would like to acknowledge former staff who resigned or finished their contracts in the 2024-2025 year: Operations and Engagement Manager - Edie Freeman, Petazae Thoms School Services Manager - Ben Mills Kaihāpai Takatāpui - Atirau Jensen-Whakataka Kaitautoko Takatāpui Kura Kaupapa - Ruataupare Russell Communications Coordinator - River Ayto Volunteer and Community Engagement Coordinator - Riwhi Kenny Respectful Relationships Coordinator, Taranaki Schools Coordinator - Dando Te Tai Tokerau / Northland - Kirsty Harnden Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland Schools Coordinator - Michelle, Sisifa Waikato - Rachel Kuysten Whanganui - Zenica Mann Te Tairāwhiti - Jordan Walker Te Matau-a-Māui / Hawkes Bay - Kirstie Lovesy Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka-a-Māui / Nelson, Tasman, Marlborough - Aroha Te Tai Poutini - Sam Duckor-Jones Murihiku / Southland - Charmin Dahl Board of Trustees Acting chairperson - Brock Stobbs Treasurer - Kiefer Hunt Executive Advisor - Duncan Harding Executive Advisor - Danielle Hamilton Executive Advisor - Dr Angelo Tedoldi Youth Trustee - Theo van de Klundert Youth Trustee - Hugo Wiles Youth Trustee - Ella Eriksson Youth Trustee - Frankie Huthnance Youth Trustee - Parker Youth Trustee - Adriana Cleghorn We would like to acknowledge former board members who resigned in the 2023-2024 year: Chairperson, Youth Trustee - Jack Ruddenklau Co-Chairperson, Secretary - Awhi Marshall Secretary, Youth Trustee - Kay Stodart Treasurer, Youth Trustee - Miia van Beusekom Executive Advisor - Ilana Seager van Dyk Executive Advisor - Shiyi Redpath Executive Advisor - Amy Ross Youth Trustee - Nat McDonald We would also like to acknowledge all of our amazing volunteers over this past year for their contributions to events, resource packing and much more - thank you! REFLECTING ON THE PAST YEAR Chairperson’s Reflections Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa He Pākehā ahau, Ko Ingarangi, ko Kōtarana ngā whakapaparanga mai Ko te Ngaengae te kāinga Nō Te Awakairangi au Kei Te Whanganui a Tara au e noho ana He Heamana au i Kōaro Ko Brock tōku ingoa Tēnā tātou katoa Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini - "Success is not the work of an individual, but the work of many." Another year has passed since my last Chairperson’s Reflection and, in many ways, it feels like a lifetime ago. InsideOUT Kōaro has had a massive year when it comes to supporting rainbow and takatāpui rangatahi and communities, and this all comes down to the love, care, and hard work of our kaimahi and volunteers. Despite what has been a difficult year for many, I am proud of what we have managed to accomplish. Our team has continued to deliver on all the amazing mahi and events that make us who we are. Despite the roadblocks, our team have successfully delivered on our cornerstone events and campaigns like Shift Hui, Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa, and Out on the Shelves. The continuity of these events and campaigns help us to focus on the positives in our communities and celebrate our rangatahi - something that is always needed but particularly now. Our Schools Coordinators have also continued their great work in connecting with rangatahi across Aotearoa and continued to adapt to the new environments, meeting rangatahi where they are in the communities as well as schools. This versatility and adaptability will help ensure we are maximising our impact for the years to come. I am particularly proud of the mahi our team has done in the advocacy space in utilsing our expertise and resources to push for positive change for our communities. We have managed to cover a lot of ground including with our submissions guides on the Relationships and Sexuality Education Draft Framework and Education and Training Act Amendment (No. 2) Bill, and our submissions on things like the Draft Suicide Prevention Action Plan, Integrity Sport and Recreation Bill, and Ia Tangata (the review of the protections in the Human Rights Act for transgender, non-binary, and people with innate variations of sex characteristics). This mahi helps us push for systemic change that supports our communities and plays an important role in us achieving our vision. We have also been making necessary changes internally to ensure we are best able to support our communities. In particular, I want to acknowledge our Workplace Services team have been tirelessly working on redeveloping our content to ensure it always best reflects the needs of our communities, and continuing to build the capability of our kaimahi and facilitators and ensure our organisation is operating smoothly when it comes to our educational mahi. They have managed to balance this with the continued delivery of our training to mental health and addiction providers and we look forward to continuing this high-impact work. These achievements demonstrate the strength of our kaimahi and InsideOUT Kōaro’s commitment to supporting our rainbow and takatāpui rangatahi. I know next year will bring even greater things and we will continue to build on the learnings of this past year while also celebrating our successes. He kotuku rerenga tahi - “a white heron’s flight is seen but once” However, with all of the success comes the very sad news that Tabby, our founder and Managing Director, will be stepping down from InsideOUT Kōaro at the end of this year. Over the past 13 years, Tabby’s vision and perseverance have shaped InsideOUT Kōaro into one of Aotearoa’s leading voices for rainbow youth and communities. Under her leadership, the organisation has been a tireless advocate for social change, helping countless people feel a deeper sense of inclusion and belonging in schools, communities, and the world we all live in. So much of the impact InsideOUT Kōaro has managed to have is thanks to her passion, empathy, energy, commitment, courage, and resilience. The journey hasn’t always been easy, but I hope she'll feel immense pride in the difference she has made for rangatahi, and rainbow and takatāpui people. Her mahi has changed many lives, including my own, and I know her legacy will be felt for years to come. I have worked with Tabby for six years now and each day has been an incredible privilege. While her departure will be a great loss, we will continue to uphold the vision and mission of InsideOUT Kōaro and the organisation she has built as it progresses into its next chapter. I am incredibly confident that we will be able to continue on the journey we are on and ensure all rainbow and takatāpui rangatahi have a sense of safety and belonging in their schools and communities. Managing Director Reflections After 13 years with the incredible privilege of leading InsideOUT, I will be leaving my role at the end of 2025. 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. 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. It’s been a challenging year as we’ve grappled with this, but I’m excited to be heading into the next year working with external consultants to develop a Te Tiriti o Waitangi Framework to underpin this commitment across everything we do moving forward. 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! In particular I want to acknowledge the support of Mani Bruce Mitchell, Tommy Hamilton, Elizabeth Kerekere and Kevin Haunui who were incredible mentors to me at the start of this journey and have never stopped supporting us. Your belief and tautoko of this passionate young person enabled InsideOUT to exist and is an example of the power in supporting the dreams of rangatahi. I must also acknowledge NAGS at Nayland College and Q-Youth in Nelson where I started my journey as a leader and youth worker in rainbow spaces at 15. Without these opportunities, things might have been very different! I’m so grateful for all of the funders that have believed in us and backed us - in 2012 it felt like you had to pull out every awful statistic to explain why this community needed support, and now we have incredible ventures like the Rainbow Funders Rōpū actively wanting to invest in mahi that benefits our communities. All the schools, workplaces, individuals that have fundraised for us, donated to us, bought merch - as funding tightens this makes such a difference. It has been a privilege to work in this sector amongst so many amazing people and organisations that collaborate to improve the lives of rainbow populations - thank you to my colleagues across the Rainbow Support Collective and Rainbow Violence Prevention Network for your tireless mahi. I have to acknowledge the many many Board members and other volunteers across the years who have given so much of their time - with special mention to Brock for over six years of service and commitment to building InsideOUT into what it is today, all unpaid and from behind the scenes - your support has been invaluable. And our incredible team of staff who each bring so much of their passion and expertise to work and go above and beyond to support their communities and each other. I leave InsideOUT in the great hands of our existing leadership team. Emmett and Rosie - our longest standing staff members who have been part of the journey as we’ve grown from this tiny team to what we are now, and have been so instrumental in sharing their vast amounts of knowledge with our staff and building our credibility as a national provider of rainbow competency training and consultation. Dando, who I’ve seen grow into a phenomenal leader and social worker, taking on the challenge of leading our School Services and always encouraging and believing in all of us to keep striving to do better for each other, and our rangatahi. Hannah, our new Operations and Engagement Manager, provides incredible passion and steadiness to our team, with a deep insight into the reality of the challenges we’re facing in the current landscape. InsideOUT is the work of many, many, incredible people over many years and I am extremely thankful for all of them. 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. I also have excitement to see InsideOUT flourish in its next chapters, despite the difficult context we’re operating in. 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, supported by such an incredible team and community! - Tabby, InsideOUT Kōaro Founder and Managing Director Treasurer Reflections Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa Ko Ingarani, ko Kōtirana, ko Aerana, ko Wēra, rātou ko Īnia ngā whakapaparanga mai Ko Te Whanganui-a-Tara te whenua tupu Kei Te Papaioea au e noho ana He Pākehā ahau He Kaitiaki Pūtea au i Kōaro Ko Kiefer taku ingoa Tēnā tātou katoa The current financial climate means money is top of mind for most people right now. InsideOUT Kōaro is no exception. We've had a more difficult fiscal year with many ups and downs, similar to the wider community and other non-profit organisations. We've received fewer donations this year, but have improved some fundraising efforts thanks to our National Operations team. Funding is becoming less reliable throughout the non-profit sector, so the organisation is lucky to have such a great team of kaimahi and Board members. We are also incredibly lucky for the support we receive. Continual government and grant funding support the delivery of our services to rainbow rangatahi throughout Aotearoa. Community members also provide vital contributions; these tangata are frequently doing important mahi in their local communities. We are incredibly grateful to everyone providing tangible support for our kaupapa. We have been, and continue to, invest in strengthening our organisation in a variety of ways. We have a particular focus on our financial and cultural capabilities. Financial investment in key areas will ensure the quality and longevity of our services. We take this opportunity seriously! Improving our foundations for the benefit of the community is crucial; adapting to current times is difficult but important. Thank you to past and current supporters who enable us to improve. It's a continuing pleasure to support InsideOUT Kōaro as its Kaitiaki Pūtea (Treasurer). I was supported by the organisation as a rangatahi, so I appreciate the ongoing opportunity to give back. I have grown significantly during my time with the organisation and still feel I have more to contribute. I am very grateful for all of the folks I have connected with, particularly those who have provided mentorship and friendship. The takatāpui and rainbow communities are resilient and strong. I see this clearly in both the kaimahi and Board members of InsideOUT Kōaro; this gives me faith in our future as an organisation. He rā ki tua. Our journey towards honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi InsideOUT Kōaro holds the safety and sense of belonging of our rainbow and takatāpui rangatahi as essential to our existence. It is our vision that guides our mahi and we want to make sure we are always having the biggest impact for our rangatahi in everything that we do. Part of this requires serious and earnest reflection on the impact we have had previously. This year, InsideOUT Kōaro has been doing this reflection on what it means to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, as an organisation rooted in Te Ao Pākehā, and how our own systems and ways of working have supported or hindered us in this journey. What we have recognised is that as well-intentioned as we have been in our past attempts to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, for a variety of reasons, we have not always been successful or had the impact we wanted them to. More importantly, we have recognised that we remain steadfast in our commitment to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a tauiwi organisation in Aotearoa and are committed to making transformative change. To this end, we have been progressing with a work programme that will support InsideOUT Kōaro on this journey. Essential to this journey is the work we have done with consultants at Nas Collective in late 2024 to help us interrogate these issues further and develop a deeper understanding of the issues and changes necessary. The outcomes of this work have helped create a roadmap of changes for us and we have been working to implement these. We have now made many quick wins and are now progressing with the larger, longer-term work that will set us up for further successes. We are excited to be moving forward with developing a Te Tiriti o Waitangi framework that provides us with a strong foundation to draw on as we progress and underpin our future mahi. With our change in leadership, we will also be looking at refreshing our strategy and how we resource this work programme to ensure its continued success. We are fortunate to be guided by a shared commitment and vision across our kaimahi, volunteers, and trustees, and will continue to improve how we work so that we can truly honour and uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Reflecting on the past can be difficult but it is a necessary step in being able to move forward with clarity. OUR MAHI: Schools Work and School Services Manager Reflections Before we can talk about the mahi of the Schools’ Service, we must first talk about the hearts and efforts of those who bring it to life. This last year has been especially challenging. External socio-political protections for Māori and for queer folk have been rolled back, and efforts towards increasing inclusion have been met with resistance from people in power; but our people have resisted too. Resistance is the life blood of our mahi; through joy, through love, through connection and through collective care, we resist. Sometimes, resistance also looks like turning up, taking a stand, challenging structures and people, and sometimes, it looks like leaving too. The achievements of the past year have been hard fought. Our people have navigated significant periods of disruption and distress with heart. This has mostly occurred without the leadership of a direct manager. They have turned up as takatāpui and rainbow people, for their people, for our kids, with unwavering commitment to the kaupapa. They have been creative and inspired in spite of the internal challenges impacting upon them. They have continued turning up when it’s been taxing to do so, when there’s little left in the tank. I want to thank each and everyone of our departed Schools Coordinators for the work they have done for our rangatahi. E mihi ana ki a koutou, my kares. I’m grateful for your time and effort, and for your contributions to our collective liberation. Over the year, our Schools Coordinators had 564 engagements with over 191 individual schools. We connected with 5748 rangatahi across school visits, community kaupapa, and events, and hosted 37 events nationwide. In our external engagements we have worked with rangatahi, whānau, school staff helping professionals, businesses and local government representatives or staff to improve the general wellbeing of our rangatahi. Our service is seeing a pivot from solely schools-specific delivery, to include broader community-engagement. This is largely due to an increase in whānau seeking support outside of schools (e.g. in sporting and extra-curricular contexts), and connection with other professionals and service providers. Since March 2025, our Schools Service has been in a state of re-visioning and revitalising internally. We have been re-building connections and strengthening relationships with one another as colleagues, and re-invigorating the mahi we bring to our communities. We are working on a number of exciting revamps for our internal systems and exploring new opportunities for service delivery. Our hope for our service is that in the year to come we are able to continue increasing the wellbeing of our team, the connectedness of our service, the knowledge base and skillsets our staff bring to their communities, and our broader community presence and connection. This mahi wouldn’t be possible without those who remain; I see you, I appreciate you endlessly, and it is my privilege and pleasure to work alongside you all. With care and in solidarity, Dando, Schools Services Manager. Workplace Services 2024-2025 was the final year of a current four-year contract with Te Whatu Ora to deliver funded rainbow competency training to mental health and addiction providers. This project has had many challenges, but has ultimately been successful in upskilling mental health and addiction practitioners to make their work safer for rainbow people, including those in services who would not have otherwise had the funding to receive this training. In the lead-up to the end of the contract, our team has worked with TWO to find a way to continue delivering this funded training, and are looking to redevelop a lot of our content to ensure that it reflects what it is that our communities need their mental health and addiction providers to know. Outside of funded delivery, the Workplace Services team also provided training for schools (alongside the Schools Services team) and many other organisations. There has been a noticeable drop in bookings over the past year, as many of the organisations who might seek out our services, such as government agencies and NGOs, have had increasingly limited funding for this type of mahi. In light of this, we are considering ways that we can continue to provide our education and consultative services to workplaces in ways that are both sustainable and ensure our strategic goals are met. Another major piece of ongoing work has been the work to better integrate and connect the work of our regional schools coordinators and the work of our team, which should enable us to streamline our processes, leaving our Schools Coordinators with more time to work directly with their schools and communities. None of this work would be possible without our incredible facilitators, both staff members and our team of contract facilitators. These people are the ones delivering our educational content, having the important (and sometimes difficult) conversations, and connecting directly with those organisations working to make their services safer for rainbow people. 2025 was also the year of our first nationwide facilitator hui, where our facilitators were brought together in person to share their knowledge, upskill, and connect with facilitators in other parts of the country. We received excellent feedback from our facilitators about this hui; everyone who provided feedback said that it either met or exceeded their expectations, and that they hugely valued the opportunity to come together in person to strengthen their relationships and deepen their facilitation practice. We wish to thank our facilitators for their continued commitment to creating safer, more equitable environments for our communities, and for the care, skill and knowledge that they all bring to our Workplace Services Team. We also want to give a massive shoutout to Jaz, our Training Coordinator, who fields our enquiries, delivers education and supports our facilitators with such flair! We lastly want to acknowledge the organisations who have sought our support and who stay committed to upholding the safety and dignity of those in our communities. Despite the increasing hostility and challenges faced by our communities, we remain determined to continue providing education and consultative support to organisations oriented toward equity, safety and justice. * Rosie and Emmett, Workplace Services Leads Our workshops consistently receive high praise from participants that demonstrate the value of our workplace education. Here are some examples of the feedback from our general workshops in the last 12 months: “The facilitators were great, and struck a really good balance between getting through the info and facilitating a conversation with the team. This helped us to feel really engaged in the content, and I felt better able to see how the info could be applied in our work.” “We would have been able to keep this session going all day” “It was really good, I can’t think of what could have made it a bit better “ “They were really kind, friendly, and informative. They created a safe environment to learn and ask questions which was extremely valuable “ “This workshop was so amazingly run! The facilitators were open to answering all of our questions and acknowledging our current gaps in a non judgemental way. Our whole team left the session feeling motivated to make organisation wide changes to be inclusive to our rainbow communities. Would recommend it to all workplaces.” “Thank you for being kaitiaki of this knowledge and sharing with us and empowering/encouraging us to use our privilege to help those less privileged! Ngā mihi “ “I really liked how the session emphasized inclusive language, making it easier to communicate respectfully and effectively. The realistic scenarios helped apply these concepts in practice, and having suggested words or phrases was especially useful. It built confidence in handling conversations sensitively while ensuring everyone feels acknowledged and valued.” “Amazing resource! I have struggled with this part of my nursing journey with the fear of doing or saying something wrong, enhanced by the lack of knowledge and then confidence. This is perfect for my nursing practice! I still need a lot of practice and confidence but this first step was made a million times easier … Great facilitators and knowledgeable! Fakaaue lahi and nga mihi x” “What a great, informative and easy to follow session. We had attendees with varying levels of knowledge on the Rainbow Community, terminology and inclusive language. Everyone got value from the session and left feeling more confident in how we can support our hoamahi and patients who are members of the Rainbow Community. -[name redacted], Learning & Development Manager” “I loved the session! Thank you both so much for making it informative and relevant it has helped me gain more insight and knowledge and I'm really excited to continue my learning and to continue being a supportive parent of my trans son and others” “Both facilitators were amazing. This was my first experience learning about this kaupapa and I felt really safe and asked questions I usually wouldn't, they made it a safe experience for me and I learnt a lot more than I expected. “ “I really liked how welcoming the facilitators were for all the participants. They had a great energy about them which made the session really enjoyable and not just another online training. It helped me to keep engaged during the whole session.” Delivery hours Type Number Hours Advancing Rainbow Competency 41 201 Tangata Moana Rainbow Competency 6 30 General workplaces 46 79 Schools 15 17 Region ARC TM General School Te Tai Tokerau - Northland 2 (10h) 2 (2h) Tāmaki Makaurau - Auckland 12 (60h) 2 (10h) 6 (9h) 3 (4h) Waikato 1 (5h) 4 (4h) Taranaki 1 (5h) Hawke's Bay 2 (2h) Manawatū-Horowhenua 2 (10h) Te Whanganui-A-Tara - Wellington 10 (46h) 2 (10h) 16 (31.5h) 2 (2h) Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka-A-Māui - Nelson-Marlborough 3 (15h) 4 (8h) Te Tai Poutini - West Coast 1 (5h) Waitaha - Canterbury 3 (15h) 2 (10h) 2 (3h) 4 (4h) Ōtākou - Otago 4 (20h) 1 (1h) 1 (1h) Murihiku - Southland 2 (10h) 2 (3h) Shift Hui Coordinator Reflections Shift was a beautiful space that continues to be life changing and life saving for the rangatahi who attend. Several young people told me that they had no idea a space like this was even possible, as they have been so isolated from queer community and are often the only people in their immediate circles (family, friends and school) with a rainbow identity. These young people can go back to their homes with the knowledge that there are spaces where they feel they belong and will be understood. They also return back to their home towns armed with new skills, resources and knowledge about not just the community, but also about themselves. It has, once again, been an honor to facilitate this space, and I look forward to continuing in this role next year and seeing how I can build on the kaupapa in future years. Volunteer Reflection “Shift Hui is always such a joy and a privilege to be able to be a part of. It holds such a special place in my heart as someone who’s grown up and into their queerness through InsideOUT and Shift over the years. Being able to volunteer and provide a safe space for queer young kids is something I will never take for granted, it’s such a beautiful experience.” Quotes from participants “I felt validation that there are other people like me, I felt free to be and express myself.” “I've made new friends and I feel like people care.” “I made a bunch of friends who care about me and I also got to reconnect with old friends.” “My view of the world has drastically changed.” “I’ve felt more connected to my community and learnt a lot about community building.” “I feel connected to a community of people like me, I've made friends, I feel people respect my identity, I feel like people care about me, I feel more confident sharing things with others.” “It’s been amazing seeing old friends from last Shift and making new friends. I always feel so supported and loved at Shift, and come home with a much more hopeful outlook. 2025 Shift has been great.” Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa The Statistics 237 unique schools participated, including 67.5% of all NZ Secondary Schools. This is the first campaign season where we have used the store to organise distribution of stickers and bookmarks. This year, schools were able to preorder stickers and bookmarks at the same time in the same order for free, with an opt-in to donate to support us. They were also able to add in any print resources and merchandise purchases. and donation income increased significantly due to this. This year we were able to offer a range of fundraising merchandise including Poho Kererū T-Shirts and totes, Progress Pride and Trans Pride flags and our new Everyone Is Magic hoodies. We added a new pages to the Pride website including “How to deal with protesting” which included a history of disinformation and hate campaigns, tips for dealing with protesting during Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa, feedback from schools who have dealt with protesting in the past, tips for managing school social media accounts, mythbusting and debunking and support for staff and young people. We also created media recommendation lists for each school type and a Pride themed playlist. We also published a new series of posters: our Rainbow Rangatira posters each feature one of eight inspiring rainbow figures from Aotearoa, and tell you a little bit about their lives and some of the amazing ways they have impacted our community. We want to give a huge mihi to Marama Marks for her gorgeous illustrations of Mani Bruce Mitchell, Chris Tse, Phylesha Brown-Acton, and Elizabeth Kerekere, and to Darcy Woods for the beautiful portraits of Bruce Burnett, Carmen Rupe, Ruby Tui, and Elz Carrad. You can find all 8 posters available to download for free here. This year we collaborated with Fey Day Arts, a queer illustrator in Ōtautahi. They have a unique fantasy aesthetic and we thought they would make a wonderful addition to the 2025 campaign team. We wanted this year’s visual aspects of the campaign to be appealing to a range of ages from primary school students all the way up to teachers, and to have an uplifting theme to help counter the rise in hate and negativity aimed at our community, and thus, “Everyone Is Magic” was chosen as our theme for posters, stickers, and our hoodies. We had media coverage of Schools’ Pride Week from NZ Herald and Breakfast throughout the week, with the highlight being the RE: News piece by Zoe Madden-Smith. RE: News released a video piece on TVNZ+ and an accompanying article talking to staff and students from Kāpiti College and Macleans College about what the week means to them and how they celebrated in their schools. This was a really positive piece of media coverage, with everyone involved sharing their stories beautifully and again highlighting the importance of the campaign without focussing on negativity. The video can now be found on Youtube here. For the third year in a row, we put together physical Pride Packs that were sent out to our regional Schools Coordinators to distribute to schools in their area. The packs consisted of simple activity ideas, flags, stickers, and bookmarks, to help make celebrating Schools’ Pride Week as easy as possible. We had multiple schools participate for the first time because of these packs and the visits to them by our Schools Coordinators. After 3 years as the Campaigns Coordinator, Hannah Darling has now moved into our Operations and Engagement Manager role. Quotes “This event really showcased how many students are rainbow or are allies at our school. We gave away hundreds of pronoun badges, stickers, bookmarks, rainbow pins, and bracelets. This made the LGBTQIA+ students at our school feel seen and supported when people might usually be closeted or allies might usually be silent.” “We are a small, rural, sport-based, farming school in South Canterbury, so it takes a lot of courage to identify as part of the Rainbow community. Mace and Lara, from InsideOUT, have been really supportive and encouraging.” “You are doing a fantastic job!!!!!! You are changing lives. This is suicide prevention and helping people be themselves." “Thank you for all of your mahi! We really appreciate it, especially because so many of your resources are free. We donated the money we collected as the gold coin donation for our rainbow non-uniform day, and we hope this helps your organization continue to do what you do :)” Out on the Shelves This year was our eighth year of running the Out on the Shelves campaign, and our third year running it for the entire month of June. The Statistics 203 unique libraries participated in Out in the Shelves in 2025. Display Competition During the Out on the Shelves campaign, we encourage schools and libraries to create a fun and exciting display for their Rainbow Book collection. Our competition this year had 32 entries and BeaDnD Games sponsored the prizes with a donation of boardgames. School Library Winner: Nelson College for Girls Runner Up: Waikato Diocesan School for Girls Public Library Winner: Masterton District Library Runner Up: Huntly Library Rainbow Storytelling Competition As part of the Out of the Shelves campaign, we run a nationwide young rainbow storytelling competition. It aims to celebrate budding rainbow, takatāpui and MVPFAFF+ storytellers and to encourage them to share their work. The Creative Storytelling category was judged by Charlie (from Alphabet Book Club), Poetry by Phoebe Robertson (poet and acting Editor of Salient magazine) and Māori & Pasifika by Sascha Stronach (Takatāpui Author.) This year we received 78 entries: 25 Poetry, 53 Creative Storytelling, with 7 entries also included in the Māori & Pasifika category. We had a wide range of entries, including our first animated short film, zines, spoken word, and a powerpoint presentation, as well as the more traditional written poetry and prose. 27 entries were from under 16 year olds, 45 entries from 16-20 year olds, and 6 from 21-27 year olds. Prizes included Prezzy Cards, books (courtesy of Te Herenga Waka Press, Massey University Press and Auckland University Press) and InsideOUT merch. The Winners Under 16 Poetry Winner: D. Omaphagus “Slip” Runner Up: Zola Manterys “Lavender” Under 16 Creative Storytelling Winner: Romi Feng “Thy Will Be Done” Runner Up: Em “Just My Luck” 16-20 Poetry Winner: Bug “Scales” Runner Up: Ace Mao “Stagnant” 16-20 Creative Storytelling Winner: Ever “Our Paper Hearts” Runner Up: Florence Pollock “Metal Made by Man” 21-27 Poetry Winner: Kaivalya Carter “Apricity” Runner Up: Keely Kereama “Seen” 21-27 Creative Storytelling Winner: Quinn Cassidy “Pikopiko” Runner Up: ACG “Marie” Māori & Pasifika Winner: Ivy Lyden-Hancy “Child's Play” Poster and design work This year we were very excited to work with takatāpui artist Anya Greenwood again for Out on the Shelves. Anya’s illustrations were used for the poster and for other visual communications, as well as our 2025 bookmark designs inspired by native flora. Bookmarks and Catalogues This year in addition to our Identities and Children's bookmark sets, we introduced a new Genres set. In total we had 14 genre lists, 14 identity lists and 3 Children's lists. We also produced 2 visual catalogues, a children’s catalogue and a young adults’ catalogue, to be made available on our website for libraries to download, print out and distribute. Quotes “Out on the Shelves was well-received and utilised by at least half the classes.” “The stickers, bookmarks and printable catalogues were excellent, we were frequently replenishing the stock and had good feedback from customers” “Hosting in the library is a real honour, it's great to be considered a safe space.” ________________ Resource Distribution InsideOUT has developed 11 written resources over the years that we provide for free via both our amazing Schools Coordinators and available digitally online. Being a grassroots organisation, previously we had these available to order using a form available on our old database which was the best option for us with the available resources at the time. While taking over handling fundraising merchandise, distribution of these resources, as well as sticker packs and bookmarks for campaigns, (calling back to his time as a volunteer) our Funding and Finance Coordinator Red was fed up and decided to put all the various order forms together in one place. The goal was to make it as easy as possible for people to see everything we had, and for us to pack everything for one order at the same time. Thus, the InsideOUT store was born! All of our printed resources that we have in stock are now available to order for free on our new store with the option for a koha to cover postage so they are accessible to those that need them. Some of the huge benefits of the new store are the ability to contact people more easily, schools and community groups being able to easily add in notes of other things they might need, as well as being able to see more clearly the numbers and impact of these resources to those that needed them. This has also made it much easier to handle pre-orders for things like campaign items and new resources. We also have some pretty cool merchandise available now that will support our work! Physical resources Since the store has been live, we have sent out a total of 841 printed resources, which includes our new resource packs which are made up of 7 of our resources. We also sent out over 130 of our resources as part of our Pride Packs for Schools’ Pride Week, which were then distributed by our Schools Coordinators to schools across their regions. Our Schools Coordinators continue to hand out resources as part of workshops, community engagement, and supporting school staff. Digital downloads Our resources are also available as free digital downloads on our website to make them readily available and accessible to as many people as possible. Over the 24/25 financial year, the resource page on our site had a total of 1414 digital resource downloads from 765 individual users. Accessibility Audit and Work on Website In the 2023/2024 financial year, InsideOUT received a Web Accessibility Grant from InternetNZ for $10,000 to undertake work to improve the accessibility of our website. Using this grant, we had an accessibility audit conducted by Aleph Accessibility which highlighted areas like colour contrast issues, screen reader compatibility issues with keyboard-accessibility, semantics, missing image descriptions, and descriptiveness. We then approached Webstruxure developers who worked through the accessibility issues flagged in the audit and improved them across the whole site. Since having this work done, our site has improved greatly in terms of accessibility as well as general functionality. Some of the key improvements to accessibility include improved keyboard accessibility and ability to tab through the site, a WCAG compliant colour scheme across the site, as well as a number of fixes to text readability as well as semantic elements. InsideOUT Kōaro as an organisation values making our services accessible for everyone, and so by doing this audit and subsequent development work on our site we can more confidently say that our site caters to all. Overall, the work done on our site means that our resources and information are able to reach more people, without inaccessibility being a barrier to those wanting to access our services. Aro ki te Hā - Respectful Relationships Programme Aro ki te Hā is InsideOUT’s programme that helps rainbow and takatāpui rangatahi to develop skills to support them in having respectful relationships. Over the past year we delivered the programme through a noho wānanga in Kirikiriroa and four online 7-week courses. We also released our reflective journal as a public resource, enabling people to take a self-guided approach through key concepts of the programme. Participants take pre and post programme surveys to rate their confidence in the core topics covered in Aro ki te Hā. In our online programmes, notable increases were seen in participant’s confidence in navigating conflict (+3.4), skills for resolving conflict (+3.5), and setting and holding boundaries (+4.4) in particular. These results are in line with patterns seen across previous years, demonstrating the programme’s consistent effectiveness. Post-programme averages remain high across all cohorts. The highest single score across all years was for “How helpful do you think this programme is for rainbow rangatahi?”, with a rating of 9.5. This reflects the programme impact, participant trust, emotional safety, and positive overall experiences in a rainbow learning environment that draws on te ao Māori values and mātauranga. Over the coming year we will publish a new resource for mental health professionals and continue to run wānanga and online programmes. We’d like to give a special shout out to our contract facilitators that supported the delivery of Aro ki te Hā over this period! Participant reflections: “I believe everyone was given the space to look after themselves, and everyone was given the opportunity to share in each session, as well as no one being forced to actively participate.” “I felt incredibly safe - I felt like we are a whānau” “I found all of the programme incredibly helpful as well as insightful and interesting. I learnt things not only about the topics but about myself and ways I can do things differently.” “They (the facilitators) were absolutely amazing. So supportive and kind. No matter what we said they were there to help and guide us through. They were not only there to talk and discuss things – they also felt like ‘friends’ in the sense that they were not authoritative figures. They were all so warm and easy to talk to about anything. A special thank you to the facilitators of my course. They were both so supportive of us, acknowledging our contributions to the conversations whilst also adding insight into what we were saying. It made the environment feel safe, warm and like everyone was accepted and loved for who they were, no matter what.” “This felt like a very safe space to share thoughts, ideas, and personal anecdotes, while being heard and receiving non judgmental feedback.” “I feel more equipped to handle all sorts of situations. I have actually used some of the tools I gained through this programme already so I'm grateful for this programme because I wouldn't have handled that situation as well as I did, had I not attended this programme.” “The programme was very insightful. I can't think of any other circumstance where I could learn from others in such an open non-judgemental way.” OUR EVENTS: Our Pride Festival involvement This year's Pride Festival was unique due to the protesting carried out by Destiny Church around the motu. We were on high alert and implemented additional safety measures into our planning such as security guards at both the pre-ball event and the Youth Ball. Out in the City This year Out in the City was held outside at Odlins Plaza along the waterfront. Our staff and volunteers had a wonderful day at our stall distributing resources, selling our fundraising merchandise, and chatting with our communities. Our stall fee was graciously covered by Rainbow Wellington. Pride Parade After supporting Wellington Pride Parade to work on their policies we returned to the Pride Parade for the first time in several years, alongside some of our local QSA groups. We held a space before and after the Pride Parade for people to get ready and debrief and received lovely feedback from whānau and young people who got to participate alongside us: “I am a mum of one of the rangatahi who walked with InsideOUT this weekend in the Parade. Being there and being part of it was huge for them, it was wonderful. I was blown away by the thoughtful care provided by InsideOUT. The inclusive space and before and after care was very much appreciated.” “I just wanted to email to say thank you. Your work is so important and means a lot both to rangatahi and also their whānau.” Big Gay Out We took a small crew from Wellington up to the Big Gay Out in Tāmaki Makaurau. We used the last of our remaining Lego to run a raffle, sold our fundraising merchandise, and promoted our resources and services. We were on high alert following the previous days’ Pride Parade and Library protests, but there were no incidents and a great time was had by all. Pride Youth Ball We worked with the Wellington Pride Board, helping to bring the 2025 Pride Youth Ball to fruition, including looking after ticketing, organising entertainment and providing space for a pre-ball gender affirming makeup event and meeting place for the bus pickup. We collaborated with Rainbow YOUTH’s Wellington Regional Coordinator, local Drag Performers who offered their makeup expertise to help the youth feel affirmed and fabulous, and local rainbow photographer Kiah De Rose. Our staff chaperoned the young people on the chartered bus going to the Youth Ball in Lower Hutt. We supported the Youth Ball with our staff supervising, stage managing, and being present for any youth attendees who may need support, before chaperoning the young people back on the bus returning to Pōneke. The Youth Ball was an incredible evening with rangatahi able to express themselves, make friends and have a dance with other young people, the runway catwalk was an absolute highlight! Photos by Kiah De Rose Photography ADVOCACY Advocacy always plays a strong role in InsideOUT’s work, taking the form of submissions to government, meetings with Ministers and government officials, and spreading awareness about issues and advocacy opportunities facing our communities through our communication channels. Some of the advocacy work we have done over the past year included: * We published a submission guide on the Relationships and Sexuality Education Draft Framework which had an incredible response online. Our guide on our website had 5,357 active views (making up 16.95% of our total website visits), with 595 clicks through our Linktree, and our social media posts reaching 45.1k on Instagram and 4.7k on Facebook. We made our own submission strongly advocating for the inclusion of teachings about trans young people in the RSE curriculum, alongside other critical points. * We published a submission guide on the initial consultation that the Ministry of Education ran on proposed changes to the Education and Training Act and then submitted on the Education and Training Act Amendment (No. 2) Bill. * We raised awareness of the Ministry of Health’s inappropriate public consultation on potential restrictions to use of puberty blockers and made our own submission on this. * InsideOUT also made submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill, the Draft Suicide Prevention Action Plan, Integrity Sport and Recreation Bill, Regulatory Standards Bill, Ia Tangata - a review of the protections in the Human Rights Act for transgender, non-binary, and people with innate variations of sex characteristics. We supported collaborative submissions alongside the Rainbow Support Collective on a range of issues. * We met with MPs across various parties and relevant government officials to advocate for rainbow rights and inclusion. * We made a complaint to the Human Rights Commission about the Ministry of Education’s failure to protect rainbow ākonga adequately. We attended mediation together and are continuing to work with the Ministry of Education on ways they can better support rainbow students across their work. * We celebrated the release of the 2023 Census data, counting rainbow populations after decades of advocacy from across our communities! THANKING OUR FUNDERS Grant Acknowledgment Thank you to these funders for supporting our work between July 2024 and June 2025: Funder Name Kaupapa / Area of Work Bay Trust Regional service delivery in Bay of Plenty/Te Moana a Toi Community Organisation Grants Scheme (COGS) Aoraki Auckland City Canterbury Rural Coastal Otago/Waitaki Far North Hutt Valley Kahungunu ki Heretaunga Manawatū/Horowhenua Manukau Marlborough Nelson Bays North Taranaki Papakura/Franklin South Taranaki Tairāwhiti Tamatea/Tamaki-nui-a-rua Tauranga Moana Wairarapa Waitakere City Wellington West Coast Whanganui/Waimarino/Rangitikei Whangarei/Kaipara Whitireia Regional service delivery and expenses Community Waikato Regional service delivery in Waikato Foundation North Regional service delivery in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland and Te Tai Tokerau/Northland Hastings District Council: Single Year Community Grants Regional service delivery in Hastings InternetNZ Web Accessibility Grant Accessibility audit of insideout.org.nz website Lotteries Operational Expenses Mental Health Foundation Nationwide Schools Services delivery Ministry of Youth Development Shift Hui and Youth Development programmes Nikau Foundation Regional service delivery in Porirua and Wellington Office Rental Expenses Palmerston North City Council: Community Led Initiatives Fund Regional service delivery in Palmerston North Rainbow Charitable Trust New Zealand Out on the Shelves and Schools’ Pride Week Aotearoa Rainbow Wellington Stall sponsorship for Wellington Pride Festival Rātā Foundation Regional service delivery in Waitaha/Canterbury and Te Tau Ihu/Top of the South Rule Foundation: Rainbow Wellbeing Legacy Fund Aro ki te Hā (Respectful Relationships Programme) and sponsorship to support rangatahi from Te Tai Tokerau to attend Shift Hui Taranaki Foundation Regional service delivery in Taranaki The Centre for Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention Pre-existing grant carryover extension for Rainbow Violence Prevention Network Te Whatu Ora Advancing Rainbow Competency Training, Rainbow Ākonga Wellbeing (nationwide school services), Mental Wellbeing and Resilience Fund T G Macarthy Trust Operational Expenses The Y Central South Island Regional service delivery in Timaru Tindall Foundation Nationwide Schools Services delivery Top of the South Community Foundation Regional service delivery in Te Tau Ihu/Top of the South Wayne Francis Charitable Trust Regional service delivery in Waitaha/Canterbury Wellington City Council: Community Venue Assistance Office Rental Expenses Wellington City Council: Social and Recreation Fund Volunteer coordination and community engagement in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington 2024/25 Donors and Fundraisers Organisations/Businesses * Benevity * Cricket Wellington * Douglas Pharmacy * Downer * Dr. Morse Tattoo - Flash Day fundraiser * Envelope Engineering * Goldfish Creative * Greater Wellington Regional Council * Humble & Grand * IAG * Lion Foundation * One Good Kiwi * OutLOUD fundraiser for RVPN * Payve Limited * Pen Classics * Richter City Roller Derby * Simpson Grierson * SIR Events * Six Barrel Soda * The Good Registry * Wellington Airport * Winsborough Ltd Individuals * Aimee McNaughton * Alwyn Bakker * Callum Neil * Ella Tait * Jerome Cargill * Taine Andrews * Yvette Taylor * All of the fabulous individuals that have donated to us directly and through our Givealittle! Want to see your name listed? Become a regular donor and get in touch with us! Schools * Akaroa Area School * Ashburton College * Christchurch Boys' High School * Columba College * Darfield High School * Green Bay High School * Hastings Girls' High School * Macleans College * Marlborough Girls' College * Mount Hutt College Uenuku * Ōtaki College Student Council * Palmerston North Girls' High School * Paraparaumu College * Sacred Heart Girls New Plymouth * Te Aratai College * Upper Hutt College * Wellington High School * Westland High School * Whangarei Boys' High School * Whenuapai School And again big thank you to these businesses that have supported us by donating resources or discounts to make our events and campaigns happen! * Pivotal Print for our SPWA '25 posters * Phantom Billstickers for our "Everyone Is Magic" poster campaign * Sticky Business Ltd for our amazing SPWA '25 stickers * Rieger's Print for the Out On The Shelves bookmarks * BeaDnD for the OOTS library display competition prizes * Te Herenga Waka Press, Massey University Press, and Auckland University Press for the OOTS writing competition prizes * Cityhop for help with van transport for Shift Hui and moving furniture * Woolworths for the vouchers to feed us at Shift Hui CLOSING REMARKS We share our aroha and immense gratitude with everyone who has supported InsideOUT Kōaro and our mahi over the past year. To all of our rainbow rangatahi and whānau around Aotearoa, we couldn’t do this without you. Arohanui. Please visit our website at insideout.org.nz to learn more about our mahi and how to support it through donating, fundraising or volunteering.