Cynthia Karikala

Cynthia Karikala is a Community Development Practitioner, with a passion to change the systems keeping people disadvantaged.  She currently works as a Community Innovation Specialist at Auckland Council, where she has been for 7 years. She has a degree in Conservation Ecology and Biosecurity at the University of Auckland, with a BSc (Hons) looking at the ecophysiology of Kauri forest species. Cynthia has a keen interest in connecting people to place/nature. She is inspired by what indigenous wisdom can teach us about our worlds current pressing issues. Cynthia was born in Hyderabad, India, but now called West Auckland, New Zealand her home. She is an avid traveller, liking to take the road less travelled to experience how different people live, her most recent trip involving volunteering at A Rocha India. She loves to hike and visit the world’s biodiversity hotspots, as the complexities of a healthy functioning ecosystem is where she sees God the clearest.