Activist is a Mānuka Honey company founded by wife and husband, Gabrielle Mirkin and Luke Harwood. Our shared passion for the earth and natural products can be traced to our childhoods in New Zealand.

Luke’s love for surfing and the native coastal land of New Zealand lead him to understand the important role bees play as environmental indicators and was the founding catalyst for Activist. Gabrielle’s time in New York City working as a senior Art Director at Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar led to a slowdown, and the pursuit of new interests outside of the fast-paced world of fashion publications. Gabrielle’s love for radiant health, natural healing therapies and food from the earth was a central driver for the development of Activist.

As a family we’ve built a company that works prolifically with natural resources, not only natural resources but ones with an origin from our native country of New Zealand; which is our larger playground and one which we have a deeper understanding with. The ability to build a brand with limited industrial impact was something that was very important to us. In essence we are simply letting Mother Nature, the seasonal cycles, symbiotic relationships, and microclimates, cultivate the basis of our products. It is our role to present these to the world in their highest and unadulterated form with as little human interference and corporate shortcomings as possible.


— Gabrielle and Luke