Mixit is all about people. Meet our Alumni, our Youth Leaders and the support team that have made Mixit what it is today.
Youth leaders
Mixit has a dynamic Youth Leadership programme. This programme offers motivated individuals an opportunity to step up into roles where they face new challenges and opportunities to grow their skills.
Youth Leaders take on organisational and planning responsibilities, gain experience of creative facilitation skills, manage the digital media aspects of the project, have the opportunity and support to initiate events and projects that inspire them. The youth leaders are an integral and dynamic team within Mixit and work hard together to make a difference.
Shahram Qasimi
Youth Leader
Shahram’s journey with Mixit began at our Auckland outreach workshop in July 2022. Coming from Afghanistan and fresh to New Zealand with no friends and minimal English, he found support and joy in the session. This positive experience nudged him to dive and commit into the core program, seeking to navigate this new NZ culture. Mixit swiftly became ...
Zohal Afshary
Youth Leader
Originally from Afghanistan, Zohal joined Mixit in 2021 when she was introduced through her sister. The fun and energetic atmosphere immediately caught her attention, and she decided to participate regularly. After coming for a year, she was invited to step up as a Youth Leader. She values the inclusive and welcoming environment that provided a pla...
Arezo Nazari
Youth Leader
As a newcomer to New Zealand, Arezo was invited to end-of-year picnic in 2021 from other organisation, where she first encountered Mixit. Subsequently, she joined the summer project – “VOICES” in 2022. Originally from Afghanistan, Arezo initially struggled with homesickness and isolation. However, her time at Mixit proved transformative, allowing ...
Team
Izadine Ahmat Abdallah
Programme Leader
Izadine started out at Mixit as a shy and unconfident teenager, but he was determined to find positive ways to grow. He found his stride, first as a youth leader and then as an Alumni, inspiring others like him. In 2020, he completed his film studies at the School of Audio Engineering and in 2023 he earned a diploma in Entrepreneurship from AUT. H...
Nicole Beer
Finance Leader
Nicole joined the team to both hold and develop our Financial Management needs. She brings an extensive background of accounting and financial know-how supporting a wide range of community and charitable organisations including Tuilaepa Youth Mentoring (who mentor Pacifica youth at risk), Hibiscus Hospice and the YES Disability Centre. She has also...
Ekta Gyawali
Operations Leader
Ekta became a part of Mixit in 2022 during the challenging aftermath of COVID, stepping into the newly created position of Operations Leader. Drawing from her own experiences as a migrant in Aotearoa, she holds a passion for empowering young people and finds fulfilment in her role at Mixit, viewing it as an opportunity for both personal and profess...
Board members
Amavi Mey
Trustee
Amavi is the Communities Engagement Manager at Fonterra and enjoys being in a role that connects the business world to communities. She’s also been a school teacher and thrives in situations that are about supporting growth, including being on the Board for May Road School and a volunteer for Springboard Trust. Amavi is a Cambodian NZer from a fami...
Mark Easterbrook
Trustee - Chair
Mark works as a Writer and Creative Director in the advertising and design industry, as well as volunteering his time for arts and charity organisations. As a creative thinker, he aims to join the dots between ideas and people to help build Mixit’s connections and tell our story. As a Mixit trustee, he brings a calm, optimistic approach to what we ...
Fardowsa Mohamed
Trustee
As a teenager Fardowsa was a Mixit participant, then Youth Leader before she left Auckland to take on medical studies. She’s now a medical doctor working for Auckland Hospital with an interest in surgery. Around her busy professional life she is a respected poet, and continues to train in martial arts, she currently has a red belt in Kung Fu. Fardo...
Alumni squad
Mixit Youth Leaders graduate into our Alumni team. The team actively engage on many levels – as Ambassadors, on the Board, mentoring youth, performing for external events, creating music (check out our videos) and participating in continued training to creatively lead and manage outreach opportunities.
Rana Arif
Alumni Squad
Rana's Mixit journey began during the 2018/19 summer project at age 17. Based in Hamilton, she became a vital youth connector for Mixit and only after moving to Auckland, she officially joined the Alumni Squad. She cherishes the vibrant energy, the giggles, and dances that define the Mixit experience. With a degree in Human Development and Human Re...
Ilknur Ozbal
Alumni squad
Ilknur joined the Youth Leader programme in early 2019, and the Alumni squad in early 2021. When she's not studying at University you'll find her keeping active through playing sports and going to the gym. She is also interested in promoting the value diversity and encouraging people to be happy with their differences.
Kaviesha Abeysinghe Perera
Alumni squad
Kaviesha read about Mixit in her local paper as a teenager and ventured into the project determined to find opportunities for herself and her sister. She has always been involved with traditional Sri Lankan dance and discovered at Mixit the stimulation of different kinds of contemporary art forms and never looked back. She initially thought she wou...
Selected guest artists
Katy Burton:
Choreographer & Performer
Daniel Ortiz Rodreiguez:
Composer & Musician
Tama Jarman:
Theatre Director & Performer
Matilde Polard:
Visual Artist
Gemma-Jayde Naidoo:
Choreographer
Malia Johnston:
Choreographer & Director
Eve Gordon & Dust Palace:
Performers & Aerial Acrobats
Tahi-Mapp Borren:
Guest Artist
Chris Jannides:
Choreographer & Director
Andrew Cesan:
Choreographer
Paulo Rotondo:
Director & Writer
Gaby Thomas:
Choreographer & Performer
Moss Patterson:
Choreographer
Don McGlashan:
Composer & Musician
Margaret-Mary Hollins:
Theatre Director & Performer
Ebon Grayman:
Performer & Aerial Acrobat
Elijah Kennar:
Choreographer & Performer
Bert Van Dijk:
Theatre Director & Performer
Ilai Amar:
Film maker
Ooshcon Massuers:
Choreographer
Helen Todd:
Lighting Designer
Sarah-Jane Blake:
Visual Installation & Designer
Sparrow Phillips:
Artist
Claire Talbot:
Garden Designer
Bianca Hyslop:
Choreographer & Performer
Gino October:
Musician
Ella Becroft:
Photographer & Graphic Designer
Jahra Wasasala:
Multi-Disciplinary Artist
Mike & Bronwyn Baker:
Ariel Acrobats & Circus Tutors
Muhammad Ali Kanwal:
Musician & Performer
Katy Dugdale:
Visual Artist
Eddie Elliott:
Choreographer & Performer
Ben Crowder:
Actor
Andi Crowne:
Photographer
Miriama McDowell:
Theatre Director
Bethan Marshall:
Artist/ Muralist
Justin Haiu:
Choreographer & Performer
Chris Graham:
Theatre Director & Performer
Tawanda Manyimo:
Theatre Director & Performer
Ahi Kahrunahran:
Theatre Director
Julia Deans:
Musician
Yair Katz:
Musician
Katy Parker:
Visual Theatre Artist
Mel Bailey aka Kloos:
Performer & Musician
Alexander Holloway:
Stage Combat
Megan Bardsley:
Graphic Designer
Chris O’Connor:
Composer & Musician
Maisy Conway:
Garden Designer
Felix Becroft:
Performer & Musician
Emily Carter & Natalie Keane:
Costume Stylists
Global connections
Mixit has a growing network of similar inspiring creative organisations that work with young people and marginalized communities. We are interested in making new connections, partnerships and opportunities with like-minded groups. If you have a project and want to link up with Mixit reach out, start talking and join our global connections map.
CAN – Community Arts Northwest, Manchester
can.uk.comProject Phakama, London
projectphakama.orgContact Theatre, Manchester
contactmcr.comRichard Mille Replica
.richardmille.toOvalhouse Theatre, London
ovalhouse.comCounterpoints Arts and Platforma, London
counterpointsarts.org.ukCoHealth Arts Generator, Melbourne
cohealthartsgenerator.comMulticultural Arts Victoria, Melbourne
.multiculturalarts.com.auThe Open University for Refugees, Singapore
initiativeour.orgHelp us continue Mixing. Donate today.
We are a Charitable Trust which means that all donations of $5 or more are eligible for a tax rebate. We send out our tax donation receipts each year in April or May (just after the end of the NZ tax year) with a little update of what we've been doing for the last year.
You are welcome to make a one off donation, either by clicking on the big purple box at the top of the page, or contact us to enquire about how to pay us directly.
You can also contact us to talk about taking a more personalised approach such as contributing to a specific project, donating your time, making a generous one-off donation or becoming a volunteer driver.
Our Friends of Mixit donate regularly, this can be set up with us directly, hitting that big purple box at the top of the page, or by following this link One Percent Collective and becoming a donor with them. Please ensure you select Mixit as your reason for joining.
One Percent Collective is an amazing charity that connects people who want to give back and do good things in the community with great charities around NZ. Mixit is one of the select charities One Percent Collective thinks NZ'ers should know about. One Percent take NO percentage of the donor’s contribution, instead donating 100% to their charities.
Thanks for considering us for your support.
