Brown Pride
Empowering the next generation of community leaders
Rise+Shine Josiah Mika Foundation
In the heart of South Auckland, a group of young men turned their shared passion for fitness and community into a powerful movement. Brown Pride, co-founded by Johnnie Timu and his close friends, is a vibrant social enterprise that empowers Samoan and Pasifika youth through fitness, the arts, and community connection.
What began as casual training sessions among mates quickly evolved. After leaving school, the group noticed that the only time they caught up was either to train or to go out—and the latter wasn’t adding much value to their lives. Wanting something more purposeful, they explored personal training courses, became qualified, and began running training camps at their former school.
The training camps, six-week fitness and wellbeing journeys, were just the beginning. Brown Pride now operates from a thriving gym space with over 100 active members, a barbershop, music studio, and even a merch room. Their vision is to offer more than temporary fixes, to build consistent, community-led solutions for long-term wellbeing.
In 2024, the Rise+Shine Josiah Mika Foundation proudly supported Brown Pride with a $5,000 grant. This enabled the team to host a community event and raise additional funds to support aiga over the Christmas period. But for Brown Pride, the relationship has been about more than funding.
Johnnie shared gratitude for the support received “The initial funding helped us pilot some youth programmes that we’ve now further established and continue to run to this day. But what Jerome has done for our team outweighs any type of funding. He’s always been there, showing up like an older uso, willing to guide us and connect us to the right people. As newcomers to the business world and community space, it’s easy to lose track of the goal and our values. But with the kind of support the Josiah Mika Foundation has shown us, we’ve stayed loyal to the soil and true to our purpose. We owe a lot of that to Jerome and his assurance that when you ensure “the people will always come first,” everything will be alright. Thank you to the Josiah Mika Foundation and the Mika aiga”.
Jerome reflects, “I believe in supporting aiga-led leadership grounded in lived experience. Johnnie, T and his team are exactly that—courageous, committed, and deeply connected to their community. I love their heart to continue to serve and uplift wellbeing in South Auckland.”
Brown Pride is a living example of what happens when young people are trusted, resourced, and backed to lead their own way forward.