Meet the team

Ashleigh Ali-Aziz

Founder

Eyeview Ethnic Trust is committed to bringing New Zealand’s cultural diversity to life through print and digital media, in order to inspire people to be more curious, open-minded and engaged with their neighbours. My team and I firmly believe that understanding is the key to respect, empathy and compassion in society; that if we take the time to understand differences – in ethnicity, background and upbringing, religion and choices – we will appreciate and respect them more. And, in recognising the differences, we will see more clearly the things that we all share, such as joy, grief, compassion, family and love. In other words, our shared humanity.

Once we reach this place of mutual understanding, respect and appreciation, we believe the benefits to society as a whole will be immense. Negative stereotyping will be dispelled, as will preconceived biases and the fear that often comes from ignorance. Tensions that currently exist between different cultures will fade and our communities will become safer, more collaborative and happier places to live and work.

Team Members

Mohammed Alharbi

Understanding the importance of diversity in our world today is the first step to true acceptance and this is why this project is very close to my heart.
Together, our differences make us stronger as world citizens. Our projects give us the opportunity to learn more about one another’s experiences and the journeys we’ve all been on, which can shed a light on a life different to our own and provide us with a new perspective.

The world order has changed; borders are blurred, communities have been displaced and have merged with others. This is never going to reverse; diversity is the new norm. So let’s embrace it and use it to learn, to grow and to bring our planet back from the crisis in which we find ourselves. The possibilities are exciting!

Karen Ndarowa

Diversity. That is our goal as a new generation. To understand that every individual is completely unique. Cultural differences, gender differences, socio-economic differences – it doesn’t matter; they still deserve our respect. Just remember, a lot of different flowers make a bouquet beautiful, you don’t always have one type of flower.

Faroq Nasim

Our differences are what make us special, and the ability to accept and understand someone else’s culture is what makes you special. There’s a world beyond the one you already know; step into it, explore it and learn from people of different faiths and ethnicities; you’ll find that there’s so much to gain from others.

Weamm Bassiouni

I believe, for society as a whole and for the sake of all our children, we need all races, faiths and ethnicities to be represented equally. We hope that our work here at Eyeview Ethnic Trust will champion that goal and is a step in the right direction.

Kurdistan Othmani

As we stand here today, each and every one of us comes with a long and rich history. Our ancestors’ traditions and tales have travelled intergenerationally. The project we work on at Eyeview Ethnic Trust will help others realise how important it is to celebrate and embrace their culture and accept diversity.