Rez Gardi
The 2017 Young New Zealander of the Year was born to Kurdish parents in a Pakistani refugee camp, resettling to New Zealand when she was six. Twenty years on, Rez Giardi is working as a solicitor with Chapman Tripp, one of New Zealand’s leading law firms, and has plans to do her Master of Laws at an Ivy League school in the United States.
In 2010, Rez started a conjoint Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts at the University of Auckland, finishing five years later with a double major in Arts and Honours in Law. This was followed by an exchange programme to the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in the United States.
During university breaks, Rez gained overseas experience. This included working for the United Nations in Kenya as a human rights intern and teaching English in South America. Outside of her studies, Rez was a Refugee Services Volunteer for the Red Cross, and is now a National Youth Advisor and Deputy Chair of the National Youth panel.
She has travelled to Geneva to represent New Zealand and has established a charity, Empower, for refugee youth in New Zealand.
Rez was our delegate at the Women Deliver Conference in Denmark last year and was also an ambassador for the University of Auckland Refugee Scholarship Appeal.
Client: Oliver Lee Publications Project: Leaving School Magazine For more photos visit the 4pm website here.