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The D*List is for Disabled, Dazzling, Disruptive Dreamers who DGAF

About The D*List

The D*List is the home of disability culture in Aotearoa.

Our website is an online culture magazine that creates space for disabled people to tell our own stories through features, columns and news reporting. 

  • What is The D*List?

    Throughout 2021, Te Kāhui Tika Tangata - NZ Human Rights Commission and creative agency Curative undertook an in-depth co-design process (Project Mobilise) exploring the attitudes that currently exist towards disability across Aotearoa, building relationships with over 200 disabled and nondisabled people along the way.

    From that emerged The D*List, an independent and disability-led social change movement. We are reclaiming our space and narratives through authentic storytelling and community events that build relationships and solidarity.

    We created this space for you.

    You are welcome here. Every part of you.

    The parts that can sometimes feel too disabled. The parts that might not feel disabled enough.

    We ask nothing of you other than to simply exist as your full and unapologetic self.

Image description: The D*List kaimahi. Back row L-R: Kim Anderson, Will Sangster, Cooper McGregor, Eda Tang. Front row L-R: Olivia Shivas, Red Nicholson, Ella Sargison.

  • The D*List team sit and stand for a group photo on a wooden floor and against a white wall.
  • Our team 

    • Red Nicholson

      Executive Director

      Red Nicholson (he/him) is a long-suffering Warriors fan, recovering high school teacher, and proud disabled person. With a background in the education and creative sectors, Red’s work is driven by a vision for an equitable Aotearoa, underpinned by Te Tiriti, where all people are valued and resourced to live extraordinary lives. As Executive Director at The D*List, his role is to support our team to ensure that everything we do is aligned with our values, goals and aspirations. Red, his wife and his three children live in Tāmaki Makaurau.

    • Olivia Shivas

      Editor

      Olivia Shivas (she/her) has worked in the media industry for a decade, both in the disability sector and in the mainstream media. As Editor, her job is to write, commission and curate content for The D*List. Olivia has Malaysian and Scottish roots and lives with muscular dystrophy. She is passionate about authentic storytelling, bringing disability rights to life, perfecting her combos at boxing class and creating excellent gingerbread houses.

    • Kim Anderson

      Illustrator

      Kim Anderson (Ngāti Maniapoto, she/her) is the illustrator behind our web and social images. A fan of 90s cartoons and collecting pressed pennies from tourist hot spots, she enjoys using humour and contrasting elements to communicate complex ideas. Kim is open to illustration commissions and other cool projects. Find more of her work at kimcandraw.com or follow her on Instagram @kimcandraw

    • William Sangster

      Editorial Producer

      I’m Will (he/him), an editorial producer at The D*List. I’m Tongan and European, and I have cerebral palsy, but I’m also a passionate filmmaker and storyteller. My experience in the disability community has fueled my love for sharing people's stories through both written and visual mediums. I’m a laid-back guy who enjoys making people laugh and helping them feel valued in any setting. A quote I strive to live by comes from my favorite movie, Back to the Future: “If you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.”

    • Ella Sargison

      Community Hub Manager

      Kia ora koutou, 

      Ko Ngāti Tūwharetoa te iwi 

      Ko Ella tōku ingoa

      Ko she/her tōku tūkapi 

      He tangata whaikaha, he tangata kahukura hoki ahau 

      I grew up in Tāmaki Makaurau and have lived in the UK. I now live in South Auckland with my partner, our children and dog. Before arriving at The D*List I have been working in Rainbow spaces, I am also an Auckland Council Rainbow Panel member and run peer support sessions for short statured people in Aotearoa. I am SO excited to be a part of this kaupapa, reach out any time!

    • Eda Tang

      Storyteller

      唐子遥 Eda Tang (Ngāi Haina, she/her) is a storyteller based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her role at the D*List is to use media to mirror the experiences of disabled people, amplify community voices and energise readers. Her work as a writer has featured on The Spinoff and Ensemble magazine and she was previously a Pou Tiaki journalist at Stuff reporting on local and national news related to te ao Māori, health, culture, language and education. While completing her BA Honours at the University Auckland, she was the co-editor of Craccum, the university's student magazine.

    • Cooper McGregor

      Social Media Manager

      I’m Cooper (he/him), the social media manager here at The D*List. I am a die-hard JDM car enthusiast, bookworm and a proud video game fanboy. Like every technology-obsessed teen in the 2010s, I dove headfirst into social media, discovering my passion for creating content that makes people laugh and sharing stories that connect us with one another.  Born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau, I live with my trusty sidekick Daxter, a one-year old Border Collie pup. 

Image Description: The words Motuhake and Whaikaha sit on blocks of red, white and black alongside a poutama pattern, and a tohuwhetū, streaking along the bottom leaving a trail of purple.

  • Screenshot 2023 06 20 At 9.48.45 PM
  • Honouring Te Tiriti

    Our co-design process in 2021 was led by a tāngata whaikaha leadership rōpū of disabled Māori leaders, supported by Ahi Kaa whānau at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata - NZ Human Rights Commission.

    Moving forward, for The D*List to serve and benefit tāngata whaikaha Māori, we are committed to honouring Te Tiriti. The values common to Māori and disabled people are explicit in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, making Te Tiriti a solid foundation to guide our mahi.

    We believe:
    • The most important connection between people is whakapapa.
    • Disabled Māori are Māori.
    • A Māori way of working is based on Māori values.
    • Disability culture has its own values too, and we need to incorporate those shared values.
    • Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the foundation for bicultural development - mandating the partnership between Māori and all other cultures - including disability culture.
    • Bi-cultural development is when two cultures make decisions to live together and work in partnership as much as possible. In Aotearoa, this means Māori as tāngata whenua will always be one of the partners.
    • "Māori should be able to live their lives as Māori" - Mason Durie.
      This is realised through supporting disabled Māori to gain access and be resourced to participate on an equal basis as others within their own whānau, hapū and iwi so they can live fully as Māori.
  • Funding 

    The D*List is a registered charitable trust (CC60975). We are delighted to have the support of a collective of philanthropic trusts, including:

    • Foundation North
    • JR Mckenzie Trust
    • Todd Foundation
    • Spectrum Foundation

    These organisations are providing us with the resources to bring our content, events and experiences to life; because we believe that change first starts with us. The conversations we have, the stories we tell, and the spaces we create for ourselves and each other. The D*List trustees are: Elizabeth Goodwin, Matt Frost, Eddy Royal, Donna McCaskill, Erin Gough and Dr Robbie Francis Watene.

    We will change how others see us, by changing the stories we tell about ourselves.