Mrs Archna Tandon, JP, of Lincoln, ONZM for services to ethnic communities and women
Mrs Archna Tandon has made significant contributions to ethnic communities and multiculturalism development, advancing social cohesion, women’s empowerment, migrant resettlement, and intercultural and interfaith understanding. She has held leadership roles in the New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Women Councils, the Christchurch Multicultural Council, the Christchurch Migrant Centre, Christchurch Resettlement Services, Canterbury Indian Women Group Trust and Shakti Ethnic Women’s Support Group. She led the Many Voices - Christchurch Multicultural Festival and the annual Multicultural Festival in Lincoln, as well as initiatives such as Living Between Two Cultures and the Indian Women’s Expo. Mrs Tandon developed and led Women’s Wellbeing Framework, which was adopted by 24 regional multicultural councils. She led campaigns addressing domestic violence and child abuse, and mobilised communities in response to the Christchurch earthquakes, COVID-19 pandemic, and 2019 terror attacks.