This article can be accessed on the FYA Website here.
By Jan Owen AM, CEO Foundation For Young Australians

We seem to get a buzz from calling young people lazy, entitled and self-obsessed. The frenzy around them spending too much money on smashed avo and too much time taking selfies is nothing new - but somehow we still seem to think this generation is the worst, most disinterested bunch.

This generation has experienced perhaps the most rapid, dramatic shifts of societal standards than any other generation before them. Overwhelmingly this has resulted in a generation more driven toward progressing constant social change.

The Oxford Dictionary word of 2017 was ‘youthquake’, meaning a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people.

With two major elections, first in the UK and second in New Zealand, usage of ‘youthquake’ spiked fivefold in 2017 compared to the previous year, describing a massive surge of young people making their political voices heard.

Of the over 100,000 new votes to join the electoral roll ahead of the Australian ‘yes’ marriage equality survey, an overwhelming 65% were young people. And in the results – 78% of young people (aged 18-19) voted yes.

On the back of a year of immense and vivid change across the globe, we need new, unrestrained ideas and new thinking to create a strong future. We need to amplify the ‘youthquake’ and ensure that young people’s creativity, fearlessness and unfettered thinking is unleashed.

In 2018 FYA is working to put these young people at the centre, to ensure they are not just getting a seat at the table, but they’re actively engaged in the conversation and given licence to take the wheel.

Here are 15 young Future Chasers ready to send ‘youthquakes’ through 2018:

Adam Jahnke

A 27 year old technology and public health professional from Melbourne, in 2016, Adam Jahnke founded Umps Health after his grandpa was hospitalised due to a fall at home. Umps Health uses machine learning enabled power plugs and lighting to empower the elderly to live safe and independent lives at home.

Ally Watson

Ally Watson runs, Code Like a Girl, a small initiative with big ambitions to inspire females into careers in coding and leadership roles within the tech industry. Code Like a Girl has an online community of women and hosts free events around Melbourne with a focus on celebrating women in the local tech-industry.

Andy Barley

Andy Barley is re-imagining science. His project, Sci-Ground, is a modern, colourful, fascinating science playground which turns public spaces into STEM exploration spaces. The physical experience is augmented by an immersive app connecting the community with the ways STEM is improving our lives. Sci-Ground provides kids with a captivating opportunity to get outside and discover science handson.

Chris Varney

An advocate for children’s rights, Chris Varney is the founder and CEO of the I CAN Network. I CAN Network is driving a rethink of Autism so that young Australians on the spectrum think ‘I CAN’, not ‘I Can’t’, in response to their challenges and opportunities. Chris was inspired to start I CAN from the exemplary support his family and friends provided in helping him channel his Asperger’s.

Jordan O’Reilly

Jordan O’Reilly is the co-founder of Fighting Chance and hireup, an online platform revolutionising the way Australians with disability find, hire and manage their own home care and support workers. From the age of 16 Jordan has dedicated his life to working with people with disabilities ensuring they gain access to work opportunities and their choice of quality care. Jordan has led disruptive innovation in the disability care sector, working within the newly minted NDIS.

Hunter Johnson / Jamin Heppell

HeadQuarters Australia is a preventative mental health and emotional intelligence organisation co-founded by Hunter Johnson and Jamin Heppell. Heading up initiatives including The Man Cave, the duo are working to empower a generation of young people with the social and emotional skills to lead a life of connection, purpose and positive impact.

Paige Burton

The 2017 UN Youth Representative, Paige Burton previously served as the National Education Director and Chair of the Board for United Nations Youth Australia. Paige helped develop the UN Youth Australia’s national curriculum, founded the first national advocacy-oriented public speaking competition (Voice), and facilitated educational tours of Timor-Leste and the Middle East for high school students.

Lisa Rapley

A 28 year old Gumbaynggirr woman from Brisbane, in 2016 Lisa Rapley co-founded Yuludarla Karulbo, an organistation with two important goals. The first is to engage Indigenous people in sharing culture in our wider communties, and the second is to empower Indigenous youth to achieve their dreams. Yuludarla Karulbo has delivered cultural workshops to over 1200 school children, and is in the process of creating a space to empower Indigenous youth on their leadership journey.

Mikhara Ramsing

Mikhara is a 27 year old social entrepreneur from regional NSW. In 2017 she founded ‘Ethnic LGBT+’, a free online community resource intended to provide support, education and mentorship for individuals who identify at the intersection of sexual and gender diversity and cultural and linguistic diversity. Ethnic LGBT+ has reached 100s of individuals around Australia and is based on the strong belief that stories save lives.

Natasha Ritchie

Natasha is a 23 year old social entrepreneur from Melbourne. She is the Managing Director of Tijimbat (Teachabout Inc.) which facilitates community programs in remote Northern Territory during the school holidays. Tijimbat provides paid employment for community Program Leaders who, along with voluntary Activity Leaders, facilitate cultural, vocational and academic based activities for kids aged from 0 to 15. If not working or completing her studies in Law and International Relations, Natasha can be found in the dance studio.

Nayuka Gorrie

Nayuka Gorrie is an Aboriginal activist and writer, primarily concerned with the topics black politics and feminism. She’s written on topics including her ever-changing stance on constitutional recognition, recited her work at Melbourne literary salon Women of Letters and works in the youth not-for-profit sector as a program manager. An author, social commentator and comedian, Nayuka is passionate about self-determination and culture.

Nkosana Mafico

The Founder and CEO of the Council for Young Africans Living Abroad, Nkosana empowers young Africans to find work, to develop into borderless thinkers and future leaders and to change how African youth are perceived by some in Australia. Passionate about advancing humanity through business, Nkosana was part of the 2017 Young Social Pioneers cohort.

Taj Pabari

At just 15 Taj Pabari was the youngest ever Young Social Pioneer to take out the prize money in 2015. An inventor, entrepreneur and educational pioneer with a passion for inspiring children in today’s emerging 21st Century Digital Economy discover the great world of entrepreneurship through technology and innovation, Taj is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fiftysix. Fiftysix is an exciting and interactive way for children to immerse themselves in innovative technology through continuous creation and entertaining education.

Usman Iftikhar

Usman is the co-founder of Catalysr, a startup incubator working with exceptional individuals from migrant and refugee backgrounds, by supporting them to break down barriers to employment and starting their own businesses. They’ve orke it ntrepreneur ro igrant/refuge ackgroun thei irs ear, whic a e e usinesses. hes usinesse av reate ve $300,00 evenue, n ull-tim ob n r ontinuin row. Catalysr’ isio reat “igrapreneuria” evolutio ustralia. t issio reat 0,00 ob ustrali h ex ears.

Vanessa Marian

In 2016 Vanessa Marian founded Groove Therapy, aimed at making dance accessible to all walks of life. The program has brought dance to at-risk youth, Indigenous communities, dementia sufferers, refugee girls and the every-day person, using the political and healing foundations that these street dance styles are built upon and mindfully appropriating it in new communities to help spark global conversation and cultural understanding.

As a working female who knows all too well the pace and juggle of balancing the needs of four busy daughters with the mid-career portfolio demands of building a startup, speaking engagements, active mentoring and board directorships, time is the core currency I trade in these days.

There are only so many hours in any given day, and the opportunity cost of time ill-spent down an email black hole or in zero-outcome meetings mean I've become more binary about how I will and won't spend my business time.

I choose to work with people and on projects that align to my purpose, and that solve for problems that really matter. It means the work can dial up and down as the projects demand, and it also means I therefore have to know when to flick the switch to family.

But like many women of my generation raising businesses and babies, finding true balance can be a challenge.

Sometimes the mix is just right, other times all wrong. You wing it anyway, and remind yourself that balance isn't static, and life is a continuum of change within which we chart our course, adjusting sails along the way where we need to. Some days are rough and tough, others blue-skied and calm watered (personally and professionally).

But in the mix of busy, I have, and always will, carve out time for mentorship. Because bringing up businesses and babies is not an easy juggle, and to make it work I have relied on the active mentorship of generous, intelligent women to help me navigate the way.

Because I have lived the benefit of having other women empower and mentor me, I believe in paying it forward. Daily, I still draw on the power and knowledge well of my collective circle to stay afloat, accelerate my opportunities and make strategic career choices. In fact some of the best business decisions I've made were shaped with mentors.

Sheryl Sandberg’s 2013 book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will To Lead has a dedicated chapter called Are You My Mentor? and in it she explores the idea of mentorship, and how to find the right mentors for your personal and professional stage.

Some of her key points about mentorship are that at its best it must be:

1. AUTHENTIC: Healthy and effective business relationships take time to nurture and develop, and most often arise organically from real human connections where there is inherent mentor/mentee chemistry, authenticity and generosity. Find mentors who understand who you are, what your values, vision and purpose are, and who will then bring people into your network who share this, too.

2. RECIPROCAL: Mentorship cuts both ways, and provides both parties with the opportunity for growth, transfer of knowledge, personal learning and professional extension. The mentor can sharpen and shape their leadership style through mentee feedback, and the mentee can also provide “grassroots intelligence” on industry insights, market intel and internal culture (access the mentor would not otherwise gain). In turn mentors can push you to your limits, challenge your thinking, strategically connect you to key stakeholders, champion your cause and actively market you and your business to amplify your message/vision.

3. ACTIONABLE: Mentors and mentees must commit to progress, and measurable outcomes. In order for both parties to benefit most from the relationship, mentees must create actions around advice dispensed, embed key learnings, and then circle this back into the learning loop with mentors.

4. AUTONOMOUS: Great mentors don’t cut the path but light the way. The greatest learning for mentees is learning by doing, even if it means failing and floundering a few times before charting the right path. Taking autonomous steps but knowing you have someone to bounce off when the going gets hard can be just the support you need to realise your potential and better achieve your goals.

Some of the most successful women I know have attributed active networking and mentoring to their success, saying that by putting themselves out there, finding their tribe and building a trusted group of people around them, they have achieved far more than could ever have done on their own.

If you’ve been thinking about becoming a mentor or seeking active mentorship as a mentee, there are now multiple organisations, digital platforms and online communities offering professional and personal coaching services if you’d like a hand to get started rather than reach out to your existing networks. Everwise, Mentorloop, Inspiring Rare Birds, Business Chicks and Mogul are just a few.

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SHE MENTORS - SUMMER NETWORKING PARTY

Inspire9, Richmond, Wednesday November 1, 6.00pm-8.00pm

Alternatively, if you’re in Melbourne and would like to connect in the real with a room full of female business women from all walks of life, register for the She Mentors Summer Networking Party at Inspire9 in Richmond on Wednesday November 1 6.00pm-8.00pm, and join me alongside Gemma Lloyd of Diverse City Careers as part of a She Mentors event celebrating female mentorship and the power of networking.

Lloyd is the co-founder of DCC Jobs, Company Secretary of the Diversity Practitioners Association (DPA), winner of the Sue Wickenden 2016 Entrepreneur Of The Year Award and has served on multiple not-for-profit Boards including IT Queensland Females in and Technology and Telecommunications (FITT).

In this event Lloyd will share her journey at the helm of DCC Jobs, where she has been campaigning for flexible working conditions for women, and regularly presenting on topics including diversity and inclusion, entrepreneurship, developing confidence for career success, and personal branding strategies, so will have a wealth of knowledge to impart to the audience.

DCC is a social enterprise helping women pursue rewarding careers, particularly in sectors with high gender inequality rates. Since its conception, DCC has grown rapidly and is now regarded as one of Australia’s leading authorities on gender diversity.

The DCC jobs board is Australia’s only exclusive jobs board, meaning employers must be pre-qualified before advertising to ensure a strong focus on diversity and inclusion. DCC were winners of the 2016 #techdiversity awards and finalists in the 2015 ARN Women in ICT Awards in the Innovation category.

I’ll also be sharing my story and some of the thrills and spills as a social entrepreneur, Mum, mentor and co-founder of girledworld.

Mainly, I’ll be chatting about how I’ve charted my career path around businesses and babies, built connections and communities along the way, and what I’ve learned from mentors and other extraordinary business women in my network.

There’ll be plenty of time for Q&A and networking afterwards, so we can all share stories, forge new connections and learn from each other.

I look forward to seeing some of you there.

Madeleine Grummet
Co-Founder & CEO girledworld

She Mentors Summer Networking Party.
Bookings here.