The 7th annual Pride Pledge New Zealand Rainbow Excellence Awards were celebrated with glitz and glamour this evening under the Rainbow Tower at SkyCity Auckland with the hosts taking out the top honour – The Pride Pledge Supreme Award.
More than 350 people gathered to recognise the outstanding work being led by our organisations and rainbow communities throughout New Zealand. Despite a challenging economic and political climate for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, this year’s awards were the biggest yet, according to Pride Pledge Director Martin King, and show that kiwi companies’ commitments to being welcoming for everyone are deep and are of strategic significance for employee wellbeing.
“Many of our biggest brands have been celebrated alongside SkyCity including Air New Zealand, Les Mills International, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Fletcher Living, Auckland Council and more,” stated King.
“Rainbow Inclusion is vital for Aotearoa, New Zealand Inc, not just for individual organisations. These businesses understand the bigger picture of making our workplaces the most inclusive in the world, both for human and commercial imperatives. This is a vision we can achieve, and we have to do this collectively and the Rainbow Awards brings us together to celebrate progress along the journey.”
SkyCity’s Pride Pledge Supreme Award victory was supported by winning The Pride Network of The Year Award and The Progress Award. These showcased more than a decade of Rainbow Inclusion work which culminated in SkyCity Entertainment Group being the first organisation in New Zealand to receive the new Pride Pledge Certification standard earlier this year.
SkyCity CEO Jason Walbridge says, “It’s an honour for SkyCity to be recognised at the 2025 Rainbow Excellence Awards. Better never stops, and these wins are a reminder of how far we’ve come together. Progress isn’t a finish line, it’s something we work on every day. We can’t wait to keep this journey going, making sure everyone feels welcome, seen, and celebrated. We’re stronger together when everyone belongs.”
2025 Winners Announced 2025 Video Highlights
The 2024 New Zealand Rainbow Excellence Awards once again had a competitive line up of New Zealand’s leading organisations and brands. The 6 th annual awards ceremony was held this evening in Auckland with Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, Massey University taking home the Partners Life Supreme Award along with the Simpson Grierson Impact Award. Booking.com earned an impressive overall second
place and Les Mills International hot on their heels in 3 rd place for their second year.
The NZ Rainbow Excellence Awards now in their 6th year celebrate workplace leadership, innovation and best practice by organisations committed to rainbow Diversity & Inclusion and is now a premier Diversity &; Inclusion celebration each year. Martin King, Director of Pride Pledge and The Awards states, “Despite the economic climate, the awards received a record number of entries from wide ranging
industries and the gala dinner was a sell-out success yet again showing a deep and strengthening commitment for rainbow inclusion in Aotearoa.”
Massey’s Diversity & Inclusion Advisor Connor McLeod says “Witnessing hundreds of rainbow people come together, the design and delivery of services specific to us, and the impacts of the work of our students in their paid roles, has presented a radical shift to the way Massey is perceived amongst rainbow and takatāpui students and staff.”
The win by Massey University reflects their strategic approach to rainbow and takatāpui wellbeing as a multi-year process covering many facets of academic life including the launch of their own Rainbow Orientation in 2023. The Orientation offered a range of activities including lunches, karaoke nights, board and video game tournaments, arts and crafts, jewellery making, flag making, and even live piercing bringing more than 600 students together from three campuses.
Martin King says that all the finalists and winners are making a difference when it comes to Rainbow inclusion in our organisations and are committed to a better tomorrow for our rainbow communities. Large organisations such as Massey University and many other winners can truly make a difference outside the walls of their offices and into our communities for younger generations to come.
2024 Winners Announced See YourEX article Watch the highlights video 2024
The New Zealand Rainbow Excellence Awards celebrates workplace leadership, innovation, best practice and collaboration with organisations committed to rainbow diversity and inclusion. We are the only rainbow focussed awards programme of our kind in Aotearoa.
The 2023 awards were the final year of the collaboration between The Rainbow Tick, the organisation that developed and leads the Rainbow Tick Certification system and South Pacific Pride Ltd, the organisation behind Winter Pride (2018 to 2023) and the Pride Pledge.
See NZ Rainbow Excellence Awards 2023 photos See NZ Rainbow Excellence Awards 2023 VIDEO NZ Rainbow Excellence Awards 2023 Winners
Check out the highlights video of the 2022 Online awards below.
Watch the full 2022 Highlights
Watch the New Zealand Rainbow Excellence Awards 2021.
Congratulations to The 2021 New Zealand Rainbow Excellence Awards category winners:
Check out the video of the 2021 Online awards below.
Watch the full 2021 livestream
Check out the video and photo highlights from the 2020 awards below.
Photos of 2020 highlights Video of 2020 Highlights
Catch a few of the highlights from the 2019 New Zealand Rainbow Excellence Awards on the video link below.
View video of 2019 highlights
