Auckland Pride has announced four new board members all hoping to continue to take our festival to new heights. Meet Phylesha Brown-Acton.
Please can you tell us a bit about your background and experience to introduce our readers to you?
Brown-Acton has worked for Pasefika LGBTQI communities regionally, nationally and internationally, for over two decades. She currently manages a support service developed for Pasefika LGBTQI peoples and their families in the Auckland region. She is heavily connected to Pasefika communities in Aotearoa and within the Pacific region.
What will you bring to the Auckland Pride Festival Board?
A Pasefika perspective and a range of skills that can contribute to building stepping stones as to how we ensure the Pride festival is well managed and sustained over the next decade and beyond.
What changes are you hoping to help incorporate for Pride 2015?
No changes, things have been fruitful over the past 2 years and I support the growth to date, if anything to advocate for a greater involvement of Maori and Pasefika LGBTQI peoples and communities.
With such a hugely diverse community to represent, can Auckland Pride Festival really please everyone?
I don’t think it is about “pleasing everyone” its about offering a platter of opportunities for everyone to be involved in during Pride festivities, it’s about letting all know that there is a space for them to celebrate their diversity, identity, talent, voice and visibility. Everyone who supports LGBTQI peoples are most welcome to partake in the festivities and it is our job to ensure all feel welcome.
What does Pride mean to you?
“When I think of Pride, I think of people, I think of the rich and diverse community we all belong to”. People are what I am most passionate about, and this is what brings me to the Pride board, not only to support a great vision which embraces our Rainbow Community, but also to offer my skills to connect people through culture, identity and celebration”, Pride is a time for celebration, and it is those celebratory memories and moments during Pride that live with you for a lifetime!
