Angela Fang On Fighting For Change And Finding Joy

As Angela Fang joins the Y25, she shares her reflections on fighting for change, finding joy and learning to look after herself, in conversation with Y25 2024 alumna Eda Tang.

Angela Fang 房晰 can’t be neatly defined as a campaigner, a writer, a student, or even an adrenaline junkie. What is clear is that her heart lies in fighting inequities, particularly those faced by women. 

This year, Angela will have lived half her life in Beijing, and the current half in Tāmaki Makaurau. She says that being a migrant and often being the family translator has given her valuable skills to navigate the real world. Angela’s schooling at a competitive all-girls’ school has also shaped a large part of her drive and ambition. 

Outside of her studies in Law and Environmental Science is where you will see Angela’s ‘why’. Angela is currently fighting for those impacted by family violence, advocating for people to be believed and protected in the Family Violence Act when a person reports any form of family violence that’s not purely physical. Her petition also demands psychologically informed programmes for perpetrators and monitoring of high-risk perpetrators. 

“We should better the system for our victims,” she says. “There’s such a high percentage of people who go through domestic abuse for a country so small.”

The goals are ambitious, but they are also strategic. “I understand it could be really difficult to employ that in the New Zealand context, but it’s better that you take a big step and they might negotiate with you to take a little step back.” 

"It’s never about how you go through gender inequality as one person. Because for me, I think I’m more upset when people I love go through things like that."

During high school, Angela and her good friend Xinyu founded Te Puawaitanga Women’s Organisation, which is the organisation that fronts her current advocacy work in family violence. But the organisation actually came about when they were fundraising for a women’s skateboarding festival. 

“Imagine you’re the only girl in a skate park full of boys,” Angela says. “Of course you’re gonna feel intimidated.” And while putting together this kaupapa, they found that “nobody takes you seriously if you’re just two high school girls.” So as a result, they registered a charity, and it turned out that that would make it easier for them to pitch further projects.

Angela and Xinyu realised there was something bigger in the skating events when the events grew and grew in numbers. Initially, she says, it felt like a good way to hang out with other women who skated, but then the two friends realised there was meaning in their work beyond skating. From there, “we definitely became more active in our pursuits of gender equality.”

As the campaign leader for Endo Warriors Aotearoa, Angela is motivated by her friends who are still trying to get a diagnosis and students whose schooling is affected by their periods. “It’s never about how you go through gender inequality as one person. Because for me, I think I’m more upset when people I love go through things like that.”

This year, she wrote a petition that collected nearly 6,000 signatures calling for an independent review and rewrite of the national endometriosis guidance. And in August, the Government announced that it would adapt Australian clinical guidelines for use in New Zealand. 

One thing she’s learnt about herself is that while it’s easy to recognise other people’s hardships, it’s been harder to recognise burnout in herself. “I’m learning how to be more aware of my situation and maybe redirect that attention back to myself,” she says with some hesitance. 

As a way to self-regulate and find inspiration and joy, Angela has been learning to scuba dive and has been going skydiving. “It helps you see yourself. You know, it’s about self-control, and it’s about trusting yourself with your life.”

“Every time I go to the drop zone, everyone’s just living in the moment,” says Angela. “It forces me to live in the moment because you don’t think of anything else but your own survival. And also the view. The view is wonderful.” 

Angela knows that “words make an impact” and finds comfort and purpose in writing. This year, Angela won the 2026 Rod Oram Memorial Essay Prize for her writing, which imagines a new economic model where housing is valued as the foundation of life, rather than an investment asset.

But aside from getting a point across, writing helps her see herself. “When I’m feeling very emotional, I can channel that into creativity instead of self-destruction.” Angela remembers works of poetry and fiction that have shaped her as a person, but it’s not something that she realises until later on. “As time passes on, I’m like, ok, this is influencing me in a way that’s very unseen.” 

Angela’s hope for her near future is simply to be self-sufficient, to travel the world, and to remain close with her family. Angela’s younger sister is turning eight this year and hopes that she can grow up in a world that is safer than it is now.