Ruby-Grace Miller

Hi my name is Ruby-Grace and I’m a first year political science and international relations and global European Union studies student at the university of Canterbury

My passions are strongly based in politics and advocacy, I have been heavily involved in youth politics and leadership for many years, 2026 marks my third year as a member of the Christchurch youth council. Throughout high school I’ve been involved in numerous political and leadership roles in and outside of school. Politics has been one of my main driving forces for the past years, 

Being a part of politics as a young person has helped me see and understand the world better and how I can advocate for those usually without a voice in the political system, with my biggest passions around creating equitable environments for all young people

As I completed NCEA level three in year 12 I was able to spend my last year of high school working on what I was truly passionate about which meant I had a greater focused on politics and advocacy, this lead to me convincing a Christchurch city counsellor to intern for them for six months, throughout this time I got to be involved in many of that behind-the-scenes processes including how the annual and long-term plans for the city are created and how the submission process works as well as helping campaign in the last election and even speaking at council myself on some issues. 

I’ve always seen politics not as a place for personal gain but somewhere to be able to advocate for issues that are strongly affecting people with my biggest passions around creating a more equitable education system and supporting kiwis to be able to not just survive but actually live making sure we have public services that are reliable fit for purpose and truly help our communities, I want to push for expanded School lunch programs affordable healthcare and public transport. 

My other greatest motivation is my work in Neurodivergence advocacy which stems from my own experiences of having literacy learning disorders in school and the lack of proper resources and understanding of what those disabilities actually affect through that I’ve developed a card game that helps students understand suffix and prefixes on a deeper level and also run keynote speeches as well, last year speaking at two massive events including the Christchurch South teachers conference and the New Zealand gifted education conference, I’ve also been able to showcase my cards at the involve and innovation expose. 

As well as being recognised for this work by the ministry for foreign affairs and trade winning there 2024 “New Zealand international development cooperation award for solving a development problem” and the “ministry of youth development award for resilience” in 2025, along with being recognised by winning zonta young women in leadership award 2025 and a New Zealand girlboss award. 

My goals going forward is to keep working in advocacy and politics, I want to run for community board in the next election and eventually would like to end up in the government as the minister of education, working to ensure all students have access to equitable education, and continue to advocate for disability rights and social policies that support our most vulnerable communities.