More than 4000 NZ Herald readers and Hits listeners voted, selecting Griffiths from a lineup that included Paralympic gold medallist Liam Malone, Hunt for the Wilderpeople child star Julian Dennison and Chloe Swarbrick, the 22-year-old Auckland mayoralty contestant.
When Griffiths, who is chair of the Far North Youth Council, was told that she had won the award, she replied: "Wow. I have tears in my eyes. I can't believe that this many people think youth suicide is a cause worth supporting. I don't see this as a win for me; I see it as a win for the cause."
Her level-headedness, empathy and worldly nature were fostered in her early years growing up on a permaculture orchard in Kaitaia, where travellers would come to work in exchange for board and food.
Her first taste of counselling friends through dark times came at Pamapuria Primary School.
The small school on State Highway 1 in Kaitaia hit the headlines in 2013 when deputy principal James Parker was convicted of sexually abusing young boys.
Some of Parker's victims were friends of Griffiths', and disclosed to her that they were thinking about taking their own lives.
"I was about 12 or 13 and I didn't quite know how to deal with it. It was absolutely terrifying," she said.
"That's when I realised how inaccessible professional support was."
When her friends sought help from counsellors, Griffiths said they couldn't relate to the professionals, who often asked generic questions from behind clipboards in unfamiliar rooms.
In the end, she realised her friends needed someone to talk to whom they could relate and who would listen.
At Kaitaia College, Griffiths joined the Ngati Hine Health Trust Responding to All In Distress (Raid) movement, which focused on suicide prevention and awareness for youth.
Raid was made up of about 10 young people who travelled to schools in the Far North to lead anti-bullying campaigns.
"The thing about such a small community is everyone was connected. They all either knew someone or lived near someone who had died," Griffiths said.
The circumstances of how they had died were never discussed with the Kaitaia College students through fear of copycat suicides, Griffiths said.
"We, as students, knew what had happened, we knew how it had happened and it made us feel like it wasn't important because nobody was talking about it or what we needed to change to ensure it didn't happen again," Griffiths said.
She recalled how a few years earlier comedian Mike King had visited the school and talked about depression.
She asked him to come back to Kaitaia and speak about suicide and ways to prevent it.
King quickly jumped on board and Griffiths invited the community to his talk through social media and local health organisations.
More than 100 people turned up to the event in June, which Griffiths said "completely blew my mind".
King presented the taboo topic of suicide in a different light, which Griffiths said was empowering to those who had lost friends or family members. He talked about finding a way to combat it, not silence it.
She arranged a second community meeting to brainstorm solutions and the group agreed youth needed ways of expressing themselves such as music, dance and art - and to have ownership of a safe social space to hang out in.
In October, Griffiths won a $10,000 AMP scholarship to create a hub for youth in Kaitaia.
"What I've felt about this whole situation is that if you can do something, why don't you? " she said.
She is moving to Wellington soon to study political science and cultural anthropology at Victoria.
"I'm studying those topics because people really interest me. I've learned a lot about people this year," she said.
"This has been the craziest year of my life. It's taught me a lot about the strength of people and how easy it is to make a positive difference."
Where to get help
Lifeline: 0800 543 354 (available 24/7) ¦ Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7) ¦Youthline: 0800 376 633 ¦ Kidsline: 0800 543 754 (available 24/7) ¦ Whatsup: 0800 942 8787 (1pm to 11pm) ¦ Depression helpline: 0800 111 757 (available 24/7) ¦ Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (available 24/7)
If it's an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
