Now after almost three years at Council, they have been appointed to the newly established role of Empowering Communities Manager in the Connected Communities team – stating that they’re thrilled to take on the role and ready to bring in freshly baked olive focaccia to barter with other managers.
Looking back on Vondy’s working career, they have dabbled in different communities across the world, from working with the elderly population in Bristol to running a queer youth charity.
The connections they fostered throughout that time helped them make the move to Wellington City Council, where they took on the role of Resilience Advisor in what is now the Connected Communities team, Vondy says.
“I wanted to step up and focus on broader community work, which my role was developed for. I knew the youth, rainbow, and elderly populations well, and wanted to dive deeper into what we could do for them here in Pōneke.”
Within their first six months at Council, they were an advocate for the ‘Out in the pool party’ event, which is now a regular activity at the community pools.
“I’m extremely proud of Out in the Pool party. It was a tangible thing that we could see how much of a difference it made. We had people come up to us to say that it was the first time they had swum in years. Shout out to the Manager of Community Pools Amy Carter for helping it happen!”