For 25 years, the Race Unity Speech Awards have given senior high school students a platform to speak openly about race relations in Aotearoa.
Initiated by the New Zealand Bahá'í Community in 2001 and established to honour race relations advocate Hedi Moani, the Awards have grown into one of New Zealand's most significant youth programmes. This year, 21 finalists representing 19 ethnic backgrounds gathered at MIT's Ngā Kete Wānanga in Ōtara to share their perspectives on this year's theme – Listening to Understand / Whakarongo kia mārama.
The national champion was Amanjot Singh, a Year 13 student and head boy at Hastings Boys’ High School. His speech, 'The Courtroom of Life', urged audiences to act more like impartial judges rather than arguing lawyers – to hear all sides before making a decision, and to resist preconceived prejudice. In an era when public discourse can quickly become polarised, it was a timely reminder that listening is not passive. It is an active choice.
Marque has been the Awards’ brand partner since 2019. Our work spans brand development, annual campaign creation, content production, and social media management – helping students’ voices reach schools, families, communities, partner networks, and the wider public conversation.
A major focus this year was on new content creation, social media, and digital communications. The aim was not just to promote an event, but to help those voices reach a wider audience.
The most impactful content was not just what people liked, but what they had a reason to share. The final speeches became a key campaign asset – generating over 1.06 million views, more than 12,000 shares and saves, and proving especially powerful when the content gave people a personal reason to pass it on. One finalist speech alone reached more than 865,000 views, showing how recognition-based content can travel through schools, families, communities and partner networks.
Those numbers were encouraging, but the more important signal was what they represented. Recognition-based content – finalist announcements, regional updates, speech videos – gave people something meaningful to pass on. Parents could share a speech. Schools could celebrate a student. Communities could recognise their young people. Partners could amplify a moment aligned with their values.
That is where the campaign was most effective: not reaching for its own sake, but building a connection that truly mattered to those directly involved – students, schools, teachers, parents, partners, volunteers and organisers, and importantly, the wider community.
The Awards are founded on a belief central to the Bahá'í Faith – that humanity is one family, and that diversity is something to honour, not manage.
For Marque, supporting the Awards is a way of being honest about what communication truly serves. It either helps a meaningful idea to travel further, or it doesn’t.
Lasting, genuine change over time is more valuable than mere exposure.
Amanjot's speech argued that listening requires humility, patience, and a willingness to understand before responding. That is also a reasonable description of what good brand partnership looks like.
We are proud to keep showing up for this one.
Marque has been the brand partner of the Race Unity Speech Awards since 2019.
The Awards are presented by the New Zealand Bahá'í Community. New Zealand Police have been the Principal Partner of The Race Unity Speech Awards since 2008.
Other partners include the Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Ethnic Communities, Hedi Moani Charitable Trust, the New Zealand Federation of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, Mana Mokopuna - Children's Commissioner, NZ National Commission for UNESCO, Manukau Institute of Technology, Unitec, New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils and Speech New Zealand.
