Our Vision

Each year the Dear Em Leadership Team explore what their vision is for Dear Em, and collaboratively develop a vision that everyone can connect to and work towards throughout the year. Revisiting our Team Vision each year offers us the opportunity to add in new perspectives, ideas and learnings, as well as reflect on how our vision served us the year before.

 

The 2026 Dear Em Leadership Team Vision

Young people leading the way for an Aotearoa where all people are safe, seen, and free.

Dear Em is a youth‑led, intersectional feminist movement grounded by our core values to empathise, empower, and embrace. In Em’s eyes, feminism is a political movement dedicated to end the exploitation and systemic subordination of one sex over another.

We are a welcoming, non‑judgemental space where young people are affirmed and uplifted. We centre mutual respect and shared accountability to ensure that young people who work with us are taken seriously and can see themselves reflected in everything we do. 

Through storytelling that uplifts diverse and authentic voices; fostering safe spaces and communities of care; and uplifting young people to lead and learn together, we foster leadership that is rooted in community.

We honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, learn from Te Ao Māori and mātauranga Māori, and show up as allies for justice and in support of re-indigenisation.

We challenge systems and norms that cause harm and exclusion, and we respond with collective care, partnership, and kaupapa that promotes equity.

We recognise that systemic barriers - like misogyny, racism, exclusionary feminism, gaps in justice systems, and harmful digital environments - continue to impact young people and the world around them.

We care for people and the places we belong to, and we work for sustainable, equitable, and accessible change across the intersecting social, digital, and environmental spaces that shape our lives.

Together, we work toward a more just and compassionate future; a world free from sexual violence, stigma, and exploitation; where relationships are healthy and respectful; where dignity, equity, and freedom are everyday practice — sustained by communities who care for each other and the world round them.

Past Team Visions

We think it is important to honour the growth of our team and vision each year, so you can find a record of our past Team Visions here on our website.

  • We are a team of diverse, young, intersectional feminists, guided by our core values: Empathise, Empower, and Embrace.

    Our name "Em" is a reflection of Me, which speaks to our goal for every young person to see themselves in what we do. As young people, we believe that to exist is to resist; sharing our voices and experiences and creating a platform for young people and survivors is how we advocate for both ourselves and our communities.

    The way we work is centred in partnership and community care. Together, we take collective responsibility for creating safe spaces where people of all identities can be uplifted, express themselves free from judgment, and feel embraced as their true selves. In fostering this connection and empathy, we hope to grow a movement where we can all feel empowered to create meaningful change.

    We strive to uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and are committed to ongoing learning from Te Ao Māori and mātauranga Māori. We are committed to showing up as allies, and advocating for justice, decolonisation, and equity. 

    Ultimately, our vision is a world free from sexual violence, stigma, and exploitation; one where we care for each other and the earth, living with purpose and freedom.

  • The Dear Em Leadership Team are a group of diverse, young, intersectional feminists who drive everything we do to be by youth, for youth. We are guided by the Dear Em values; to empathise, to embrace, and to empower.

    In our name, “Em” is a reflection of “me”, meaning we aim to ensure every young person can see themselves reflected and uplifted in the work we do. 

    The way we work is centred in partnership. We spend time connecting with our community, and building a collective movement where everyone can feel a sense of belonging, and hold power to create positive change.

    Together we create a space which is free from gender roles and societal pressures. Through embracing diverse perspectives, valuing each person’s lived experience, and encouraging authenticity and self-reflection, we enable people to feel seen and heard as their true selves.

    We are committed to upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and recognise our need for an ongoing process of learning from Te Ao Māori and mātauranga Māori.

    We apply both intersectional feminist and international justice lenses to our work, while  advocating for equity and autonomy of choice. 

    Our ultimate goal is to create an Aotearoa based on consent-promoting, healthy relationships, and sustained through Dear Em’s values of empower, empathise, and embrace.

  • The Leadership Team at Dear Em are a group of diverse, young, intersectional feminists.

    Dear Em’s name includes the reflection of ME, by which we aim for young women and gender diverse people to see their lived-experiences reflected in our vision  and have a sense of belonging . 

    We are committed to a Te Tiriti-based, consent-promoting, culturally inclusive, and socially just Aotearoa, achieved through youth empowerment. 

    We advocate for a society where all people have equitable access to opportunities and resources while being safe, nourished, empowered and supported

    Young people experience Dear Em as a presence that ignites their inner change and outward action through raising awareness, developing connections, creating political action, learning about choices, and building community. 

    We aim to encourage and create a world where relationships are built and sustained through Dear Em’s values of empower, empathise, and embrace.

  • The leadership Team at Dear Em work towards inspiring, educating, people to create a Te Tiriti based, consent-promoting and just society. We advocate for a society where ALL people have equitable access to opportunities, resources while being safe, nourished, empowered and supported.