Rata Ingram lives at the foot of Christchurch’s rolling Port Hills, just 500m from the epicentre of the February 2011 earthquake. Growing up in a fast-changing city has informed her wide range of interests, from writing to history to technology to politics, and how we bring these together to make a socially and environmentally-conscious future. Her pursuits reflect her passion for learning and effecting change. A student in the Inspiring Stories’ Young People and Social Enterprise Canterbury course, she has recently started a political blog, youthvotes.org.nz, which is aimed at addressing young people’s disenfranchisement in New Zealand. She is a member of the South Island Writers’ Association. In her free time she volunteers at Ferrymead Heritage Park.