Meet the Team

About The Buzz

The Buzz is a work skills programmme established in 2021 by a group of local parents. The families recognized that their young people with learning differences, faced many barriers when making the transition from school into the community.

Our Vision
All young people have opportunities to develop work skills and be ‘work ready’, to achieve their goal of purposeful work/employment that matches their unique abilities, and enables a sense of belonging and contribution to their local community.

Our Mission
The Buzz supports young people with intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), aged 16 – 30 years, prepare for work by providing skills based programmes and community networking opportunities.

Recent newspaper articles:

‘Huge gap’ in employment rate between disabled and non-disabled people

The Buzz: Helping neurodiverse rangatahi learn work skills

Watch the short video made by the Rātā Foundation to learn more:

Meet the Team

The Buzz team are skilled, experienced, and qualified in working with young people with diverse needs.

Committee

Helen McDonnell: Chairperson

Kia ora. I am passionate about creating opportunities for young people living with diverse needs so that they can flourish in the community. I believe it is a collective responsibility to ensure that no one is left behind in society and I enjoy working collaboratively to meet that goal. My experience over the years includes working as an Occupational Therapist, Disability Coordinator, Teacher aide and in governance roles. I am a mum of two young adults who have support needs and when I get some precious free time I love to create artwork, read, bike and go for beach and bush walks.

Jane Linn: Committee Operations Overseer/CEO

Kia Ora, The Buzz is a result of big dreams, inspired and motivated families, and many hours of hard work. It is a huge privilege to watch the young people blossom in this environment. I am a passionate advocate of inclusion for everyone and I see young people with diverse needs as positive contributors to our workplaces and communities, they are the ‘icing on the cake’. My varied background is in nursing, social work, and teaching, and when I’m not ‘Buzzing’ or teaching, you will probably find me on the tennis court, biking, swimming, or enjoying precious family time.