Aimee Clark (23) and Umi Asaka (24) were announced as members of the 2021 Y25 list last night run by the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA).
The Y25 project celebrates 25 women between the ages of 15 and 25 who contributed to their communities in significant ways.
Ms Clark said she had always been an advocate for the ocean.
She was a Young Ocean Leader with the Sustainable Ocean Alliance.
She represented New Zealand at the 2019 Our Ocean Youth Leadership Summit and launched the Victoria Sustainability Week, which has run for three years, with a team of other sustainability related groups.
She had plans to launch the Yellow Submarine Project, which would be a mobile laboratory and interactive classroom space for schools and communities teaching ocean literacy and environmental education.
Ms Asaka recently graduated from Otago University and was a junior research fellow at the Donald Beasley Institute and a co-facilitator at Stopping Violence Dunedin.
She had gathered evidence for the United Nations by conducting interviews with over 100 disabled New Zealanders, identifying health and wellbeing rights violations.
She had co-authored a book about diversity and was working on two more.
Ms Asaka moved to New Zealand following the 2011 earthquakes in Japan.
She lived with Osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder which affected the strength of bones.
She was also the South Island representative on the National Board of CCS Disability Action.
Ms Asaka said she was humbled to be recognised for her work.
She wanted to continue to help disabled people around the world.
