Manager

Anna has worked in the newcomer and settlement sector for more than 20 years, both in New Zealand and London. She has a strong focus on supporting migrants and former refugees in employment and inclusion, and previously worked for Auckland Regional Migrant Services (now Belong Aotearoa) for many years, while also serving on the Auckland Refugee Council and volunteering with Refugees As Survivors.

Since moving to Nelson in 2017, Anna worked as an employment coach for skilled migrants and volunteered with organisations such as the Red Cross to support refugee resettlement, before taking up her role at MNT.

Anna is passionate about Aotearoa New Zealand’s diversity and deeply committed to a Te Tiriti-based Aotearoa, where all cultures are valued through shared respect and understanding of the first people of our land. She is also a Justice of the Peace.

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Project Manager and Finance Officer

Originally from the beautiful tropical island of Sri Lanka, Ramiesha has called Nelson home since 2018. She holds a Master of Applied Management from New Zealand and brings experience in human resources, administration, social media marketing, and project coordination from her time in Sri Lanka. She also spent several years working as a part-time TV presenter.

Ramiesha enjoys listening to music, travelling, and exploring new places. As a migrant herself, she is passionate about helping others feel welcome and connected to New Zealand’s culture. She believes that when people are encouraged to express themselves freely, it fosters understanding and appreciation among communities.

Ramiesha has been part of Multicultural Nelson Tasman for the past five years and loves working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, whether through festivals, workshops, or community support services. A big part of her role involves coordinating and supporting multicultural youth.

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Community Support Coordinator – Motueka

Born and bred in Aotearoa, Sez embraced Māoritanga from an early age. Traveling the globe in her early twenties, Sez extended this passion into exploring and learning about other rich and diverse cultures. After gaining a degree in History, along with a Secondary School teaching qualification, Sez shared her love for multiculturalism through teaching Social Studies and Humanities subjects. Realising that teaching English provided an excellent pathway to further overseas travel, Sez gained further qualifications in teaching English as a second or additional language (TESL or TEAL). Subsequently, Sez taught English in Peru, Turkey, Vietnam, Thailand and Japan.

With the arrival of the Covid19 pandemic, Sez returned home to take up a role as Pastoral Care Coordinator for RSE horticultural workers in Motueka. This entailed helping people from a range of different islands in the Pacific settle into life in Aotearoa, as well as helping them access medical care.

Having lived in Motueka with her family for twenty years, Sez is excited and humbled to have the new position of MNT Motueka Community Coordinator. She believes her community appreciates the variety of cultures coexisting in Motueka and makes an effort to welcome and involve newcomers from around the world.

Along with her whanau, Sez is also passionate about the environment and in her spare time is to be found walking in the hills and mountains located in the beautiful Nelson Tasman region.

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Cultural Navigator – Shared Communities

Karolina (who works from MNT under the Shared Communities project) is originally from Colombia, where she grew up with over 60 painters in her extended family. She studied theatre in Colombia and Spain and has exhibited her artwork in Europe, South America, and New Zealand. Upon her arrival in New Zealand in December 2018, her way of seeing art has changed. She has realised how the arts can be a powerful tool in so many different ways.

Here in New Zealand, she has had the opportunity to work with migrant communities and former refugees creating artistic projects. She has worked in the health sector for Disability Support Services and also supporting ESOL (English for Second Language) students as a Teacher Aide and Bilingual Support in various schools. Thanks to this, she has witnessed and experienced the many ways that the arts positively impact people's lives, especially migrants and former refugees.

She is aware that the arts are essential for preserving the cultural traditions of those who are far away from their birth countries. Sharing their traditions with locals promotes understanding, inclusivity, and empathy as well as creating a feeling of belonging. She understands the important role that art plays in integrating society and helping people feel less isolated.

Karolina is passionate about contributing positively to the settlement process, and facilitating the removal of the barriers that impact access and participation for Whakatū Nelson’s former refugee and migrant communities, within the arts, culture and heritage sectors.

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