Young Kiwis get medals from Queen
Two young Kiwis will be honoured with a Queen’s Young Leader’s Award in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace this month.
Alexia Hilbertidou, 19, and Ezekiel Raui, 20, are two of 240 young people from around the Commonwealth to receive the awards, given by the Queen herself.
The Aucklanders beat thousands of applicants to receive the award, which involves a year-long leader- ship course run by the University of Cambridge, mentoring, visiting the British Prime Minister’s home at 10 Downing St and training with the BBC and Facebook in the UK.
Hilbertidou is being honoured for her work to encourage women to become leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem), leadership and entrepreneurship in New Zealand.
Raui is receiving his award for encouraging men to take up leadership positions and to talk more openly about mental health issues.
The award ceremony will be held on June 26.
Entrants must be aged between 18 and 29.
The 2018 Queen’s Young Leaders are finding solutions to global issues such as climate change, food scarcity, gender-based violence, mental health and access to education.
Dr Astrid Bonfield CBE, chief executive of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust which is a partner of the awards, congratulated this year’s award recipients.
“Through selfless determination, the Queen’s Young Leaders of 2018 are dedicating their lives to bring positive change to those around them,” she said.
The Queen’s Young Leaders programme was established in 2014.