Action Ed is run by a dedicated and passionate core team of creatives
Ramon Narayan
CEO| Poet |
Ramon is the CEO of Action Education. He is a poet, DJ, youth worker and facilitator who has worked with young people for the last 25 years. In 2016 he was honoured with a Local Hero award for his work in the community. He is the co-founder of the South Auckland Poets Collective and co-founder of Word-The Front Line, New Zealand's biggest poetry slam. Youth work and poetry have taken him around the world multiple times. He is the dad of a Greyhound called Maui, a self-confessed vinyl junkie, beer nerd and cheese addict.
Julia Rahui
Stake Holder Partnerships | Funding | Co-Secretary
Julia comes from a large Irish and Māori whānau and is passionate about tikanga, hauora, te taio, social justice and community connection. Julia holds whakapapa in Te Tai Tokerau (Te Roroa Iwi) and is particularly interested in indigenous knowledge and ways of being and its positive impact on human development.
Julia works as the Action Education Funding Coordinator, and she manages several key stakeholder relationships. She has more than 22 years’ experience in the non-profit sector. Her career spans project management, youth development work, coordination of a community radio station and art gallery and experience working in Vanuatu for an indigenous music and arts trust. Outside of Action Education Julia is currently undergoing an apprenticeship to learn about Romiromi and Māori traditional healing.
Talia Stanley
Poet | Youth Worker | Facilitation Lead
Talia is a Samoan youth development worker, writer, and spoken word artist from Tāmaki Makaurau. She is the 2024 New Zealand Poetry Slam Champion and has over 12 years of experience as a spoken word poetry facilitator and currently works for Action Education running workshops across the country. She has performed at numerous festivals and theatres in Aotearoa and is a three-time JAFA Poetry Slam Finalist.
Ken Arkind
Youth Development Worker | Poet | Author | Graphic Designer
Ken Arkind is a poet and performer with over 20 years of experience as a spoken word arts educator and youth worker. A United States National Poetry Slam Champion Ken has performed his work and facilitated workshops across the world.
He helps produce the NZ National Poetry Slam and is the author of two collections of poetry. Ken has appeared on multiple TEDx Stages, HBO, NBA.COM, The Huffington Post, TVNZ, and in numerous anthologies.
He is deeply passionate about the power of using creativity as a tool for youth development and social change and believes that art can be a compass that we use to navigate the world. He holds a BCA in Creative Writing from MIT, a Post-Grad Diploma in Communicattion from AUT, and is currently completing a Masters in Fiction at Victoria Univcersity.
Hannah Feenstra
Administrator | Organiser | Good Sort
Hannahs supports organisations doing great things to achieve their purpose and vision.
Her varied career includes work in both the non-profit and business sectors from conservation, co-housing and the coffee industry to mobility support services and running her own cafe. She enjoys the challenge of finding solutions and strategies that support, enable and empower people.
She holds Bachelor of Health Science from the University of Auckland and a Masters in Entrepreneurship from the University of Otago. In her spare time you will find her cooking, eating or exploring Aotearoa’s beautiful outdoors.
Cristián O'Ryan
Funding Coordinator
Cristián is originally from Chile. His ancestors come mostly from Italy and Spain from where they travelled years ago. His water is the Pacific Ocean and his mountain is Cordillera de los Andes. Cris arrived in Aotearoa 1 year ago with his family. His wife Carla and two daughters Adela (7) & Estela (5). They used to live in Santiago, the capital of Chile but are currently based in Whakatū Nelson where they have felt blessed and grateful for the warm welcome this community has extended to them.
Cristián is an Edmund Hillary Fellow and has a blended experience in Corporates, NGOs and Startup/Entrepreneurial fields. Cris believes in the power of creativity to inspire positive change, especially among young people.
Eric Soakai
Poet | Youth Development Worker | Facilitator
Eric Soakai (they/him) is a Samoan (Poutasi/Falealili) & Tongan (Pangai/Ha’apai) poet/ performance artist born and based out of South Auckland.
They are the 2019 National Poetry Slam (NZ) Champion, recipient of the Indigenous Story Telling Residency in Banff, Canada (2020) has works published and forth coming in various journals including the New Zealand Performance Poetry Anthology (AUP 2022).
Eric currently works as a poet and youth worker for Action Ed where he creates and facilitates poetry-based workshops for youth across the motu as a means to help pass on the artistic tools that have helped him stand proudly as the person he is today.
Sheldon Rua
Poet | Youth Development Worker | Facilitator
Sheldon is a proud Māori/Samoan (Waikato/Tainui, Sapapali’i) artist and storyteller deeply rooted in connection and authenticity. With a background in youth work, spoken word poetry and street dance, he has thrived in Aotearoa’s arts community for well over a decade as a performer, mentor, cultural advocate and community builder. No stranger to the global stage, he has represented Aotearoa at some of the biggest Street Dance Festivals in the world, while working as a poet and facilitator with Action Education, continuing to elevate his craft in his community. His work is driven by a deep commitment to honour our stories, uplift our people and strengthen our place across the world.
Koromiko Jacob-Williams
Poet | Youth Development Worker | Facilitator
Koromiko Jacob-Williams is a poet, facilitator, aspiring filmmaker, and creative who hails from Tauranga Moana(Ngāiterangi, Ngātiranginui) but currently lives in West Auckland. They are a member of the spoken word poetry group Rehekōrero, who have performed and competed at the New Zealand National Poetry Slam, Laneway Music Festival, Splore Festival, and more.
They write about Te Ao Māori and issues facing their culture while touching on what it's like to be a rangatahi and wāhine Māori. Currently, they're studying for a Bachelor of Communications, majoring in film at AUT and hope to write and release a collection of poetry in the future.
Manaia Tuwhare-Hoani
Poet | Youth Development Worker | Facilitator | Alumni
Manaia Tuwhare-Hoani (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai) is a young wahine Māori spoken word poet with a passion for storytelling. She does this as part of the poetry collective, Ngā Hinepūkōrero. Together, Ngā Hinepūkōrero participated in WORD - The Front Line 2018 in Auckland, the Trans-Tasman Slam in Melbourne and came out champions. They were the first team from Aotearoa to represent at the 2019 Brave New Voices, the largest international youth poetry slam in the world.
She has appeared in media such as Te Karere, The Hui, RNZ and many others. In 2021 NHP did a writer’s residency at the Auckland Art Gallery as part of the Toi Tū, Toi Ora exhibition. Manaia uses spoken word as a platform to bring unspoken mana Māori issues and topics to light, to explore and expand her own creativity and identity within her culture and to bring that into the classroom.
Meet our community of contractors - creators, facilitators, mentors and artists who support our programmes, projects and events
Noah Te Atakura Brown is a distinguished spoken word artist with nearly five years of experience in writing and performing poetry. He is deeply passionate about his craft and has dedicated himself to it wholeheartedly. Of Samoan and Cook Islands descent, Noah draws inspiration from his rich cultural heritage, infusing the essence of his family and traditions into his writing. Noah is an integral member of the Word - The Front-Line alumni and a skilled graphic designer.
Noah is part of the Verses & Vibes Team, a Word- The Front Line Alumni, and Graphic Designer.
Luani Nansen is a New Zealand-born Samoan poet with roots in the villages of Falese'elā, Vaiusu, Satapuala, Lauli'i and Apolima Tai. As a proud alumni of Word - The Front Line, Luani excels in multiple roles as a poet, DJ and facilitator. He aspires to be a distinguished orator, dedicated to creating inclusive spaces and collaborating with talented individuals in the arts community.
Noah (A.R.K) Tauti is a Samoan, Niuean artist born and raised Mangere. He is a Dancer, Poet and Rapper who is also a member of 4TK and Word - The Front Line alumni. He currently facilitates The Navigators Spoken Word Workshops & helps coach Word - The Front Line.
Ngaio is a Māori/pākehā spoken word artist and educator born and raised on the island of Oʻahu on Kānaka Maoli land in the unceded nation of Hawaiʻi. Now permanently residing in his ancestral homeland, Aotearoa, Ngaio is still writing about diaspora, identify conflict, and what it means to be Indigenous and queer in a world that repeatedly rejects both. An Auckland Poetry Slam Champion anmd Word - The Front lince Coach, Nagio has been published in Contemporary Verse, Flux Hawaiʻi, Literary Hub, Ora Nui, Hawaiʻi Review, and Bamboo Ridge, among others.
Shania (they/them) is an Art History Honours student and a spoken word poet who actively engages in the arts. They are dedicated to storytelling and fostering safe spaces for artistic expression to thrive.
Shania is an alumni of Word - The Front Line, where they have returned as a championship coach, mentoring the next generation of poets. Additionally, they are one of the organisers of the 09 Poetry Slam and have been extensively published throughout Aotearoa
KKamal Sunker is a proud South African, South Aucklander and New Zealander. He relocated to New Zealand in the 1990s, where he gained first-hand insight into the challenges faced by immigrants and families of colour. Kamal employs digital storytelling as a tool for decolonization, using it to convey narratives that challenge mainstream ideologies.
He is deeply passionate about mental health, as well as environmental and social justice. In his spare time, Kamal enjoys amplifying the voices of indigenous cultures through music and photography.
