The Student Volunteer Army (SVA) is New Zealand's largest volunteer movement to date. SVA has been instrumental in mobilising youth around the world to provide disaster relief. Today the SVA movement aims to make volunteering and service an intrinsic part of the student experience and show each person that they have power to drive change in their communities. This ethos has allowed the movement to persist beyond the immediate response to the 2011 earthquake near Christchurch. SVA continues to share and expand its approach, developing programs for primary school children, and hosting international visitors interested in learning from SVA’s sustained social movement.

 

Marianne Dutkiewicz is a New Zealand lawyer and serves as the Development Manager for the Student Volunteer Army Foundation. She is passionate about integrating law with opportunities to empower women. Marianne is an alumni of the East-West Center.

 

Layla Kilolu is an East-West Center fellow and graduate student at the University of Hawaii in Urban and Regional Planning studying community resilience and social equity. Awarded a grant to study resilience initiatives in New Zealand, Layla visited the Student Volunteer Army as part of her research.

 

The Student Volunteer Army (SVA) is New Zealand's largest volunteer movement to date. SVA has been instrumental in mobilising youth around the world to provide disaster relief. Today the SVA movement aims to make volunteering and service an intrinsic part of the student experience and show each person that they have power to drive change in their communities. This ethos has allowed the movement to persist beyond the immediate response to the 2011 earthquake near Christchurch. SVA continues to share and expand its approach, developing programs for primary school children, and hosting international visitors interested in learning from SVA’s sustained social movement.

 

Marianne Dutkiewicz is a New Zealand lawyer and serves as the Development Manager for the Student Volunteer Army Foundation. She is passionate about integrating law with opportunities to empower women. Marianne is an alumni of the East-West Center.

 

Layla Kilolu is an East-West Center fellow and graduate student at the University of Hawaii in Urban and Regional Planning studying community resilience and social equity. Awarded a grant to study resilience initiatives in New Zealand, Layla visited the Student Volunteer Army as part of her research.