- By Howick Youth Council chairperson Alex Lin
The Howick Youth Council is a “for youth, by youth” non-partisan organisation that’s proudly funded by the Howick Local Board.
The Howick Youth Council is honoured to be recognised as New Zealand’s largest youth council, seeing over 6,000 volunteer hours from members and engagement in the 150,000s annually.
The Howick Youth Council has 32 members from the 9 east Auckland areas – Botany, Edgewater, Elim, Howick, Saint Kentigern, Macleans, Ormiston, Pakuranga, and Sancta Maria – and we’re defined by our strategic goal and vision statement of offering opportunities, representing, and empowering the rangatahi of east Auckland.
The Howick Youth Council is built from the foundation of a “team system” that sees a leadership team, a communications team, and four project teams.
The project teams deliver projects or events with a purpose. We usually see anywhere from 20 to 25 projects in a year.
The communications team ensures timely and engaging promotion for our target audience, and the leadership team acts as the pillar of the council, supporting internal and external development.
This year, the leadership team is made up of Alex Lin (chairperson) and Behrad Etemadipour (deputy chairperson), alongside Charlotte Hutton (secretary), Paula Sun (treasurer), Kiana Paoo (council community lead), and Natalie Choi (communications lead).
A key focus for the 2026 leadership team is sustainability and growth. We’re driven by a goal to offer systematic and robust growth that sustains a positive council culture, henceforth, allowing for upskilling and empowerment.
The leadership team has recently completed their first project of the year: 2026 Council Recruitment.
After record application numbers, the 2026 leadership team had the difficult task of selecting just 13 final project team members and five final communications team members. Congratulations to our new members, and we cannot wait to see what direction 2026 will take us!
If you’re interested in getting involved, please stay in touch through our website, https://www.howickyouthcouncil.org.nz/, or Instagram (@howickyouthcouncil).
We’ll be having many exciting opportunities to engage with our upcoming projects soon, so keep an eye out!
Aroha nui,
The Howick Youth Council
