Kia ora readers,

Thank you for joining us for the 2024 Impact Edition of the Create Happy Magazine.

Since we began at the beginning of 2022, Create Happy has always been about uplifting the voices of young people and giving them a voice to tell their own stories. It is, and always was, a long goal of ours, and who knew if we could ever definitively say that we have accomplished it. But as I sit here today and write this note, having been away for most of the time this edition was crafted, I cannot help but feel immense pride at our rangatahi for creating something so spectacular. For having taken ownership of their own storytelling.

Our young generations know the value of their stories, and they ache to tell them. They ache to tell the world of their successes, of the change they made. Of the person they helped up from the ground, of the friend they stayed with. There is a deep desire to tell them, and they have.

The Impact Edition is what its’ name would suggest, a celebration of Impact. A celebration of the work that people have done, and the change that it’s made. From tales of the work toward climate justice, the struggle for Indigenous liberation, to the most inspiring stories of community leadership, I hope that as you read, you feel the same sense of pride swell in your heart as I did writing this.

Because if this is what our young people are doing already, I can say with my hand on my heart: the kids are okay. The masters of these tales will grow into our business people, our politicians, our activists, our teachers, and our leaders.

And if they become our leaders, I know this for a fact:

The world is in good hands.

x Cassie Taulelei
Co-Editor