Youthquake: 15 FYA Future Chasers Set To Shake Up 2017!

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.

Corporate Australia needs to ditch old processes and 'org-hack' itself to keep up with Silicon Valley

This article was first published in Business Insider Australia, October 12 2017.

If Australia wants to compete with global innovators, corporate culture needs to change.

GirledWorld co-founders Madeleine Grummet and Edwina Kolomanski want to equip the next innovation generation of female leaders, founders and STEM experts with the enterprise skills, and access to female business role models they’ll need to excel in the future of work.

Grummet told Business Insider that GirledWorld focuses on embedding purpose across everything they do, and building a startup culture that fosters creativity and human-centred design.

“We’ve worked and studied across the US, Asia and Europe over our career lifetimes, and it’s interesting to compare the cultural dictates of those economies,” Grummet said.

“What is clear is that comparatively, Australia’s corporate culture is inherently conservative and currently bound by legacy processes, hierarchies and systems that actually impede innovation.

“In the context of a data-driven knowledge economy, the advent of exponential technologies, rapid communication and a fragmenting marketplace, it’s clear that corporates will need to embrace change, employ human-centered design to put the customer at the heart of their business model, and embed purpose in their culture if they are going to survive.”

If you compare Australia to the Silicon Valley start-up scene, for example, Grummet said the companies there have an intense focus on being scalable, 'scrappy', agile and adaptable to change – driven either by the consumer, the marketplace or the technology.

“In that environment of rapid value shift, traditional industries and companies simply have to adapt to survive and this is driven by startups,” Grummet said.

“So companies and corporate cultures over there are actively trying to org-hack themselves to stay agile, redefine their purpose and drive intentional innovation.”

Grummet recently returned from a trip to the Valley, where she participated in deep-dives in innovation labs with the likes of Google, Airbnb, Twitter, Tesla, Silicon Valley Robotics and Singularity University.

Unfortunately, changing your culture is not something Australian businesses can just “copy and paste” from Silicon Valley, Grummet explained.

“In order to stay globally competitive and locally relevant, we must create and nurture our own culture within a start-up ecosystem that drives net job creation for Australia’s future economy.”

In the next 12 months, Grummet says girledworld's focus will be on three things: building an entrepreneurially minded team, scaling to reach more girls across Australia with a digital platform and continuing to embed purpose across their business to deliver on their mission.

“Five years from now we would like to have a multi-national team working within an operating culture that is diverse, positive, purpose-fuelled and that lives by its values, providing active mentorship and future career pathways to girls.”

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Join girledworld, Google, The Australian Futures Project and Blackbird Ventures at NAB 23/11.

GirledWorld Co-founders Madeleine Grummet and Edwina Kolomanski are members of the NewCo Advisory Council, and will be presenting at the Melbourne NewCo Festival on Thursday November 23 at NAB's The Hall in Melbourne. For tickets book here.

The Panel Event entitled 'Redefine the Workplace Paradigm: How to get women to stay, lead and succeed', will feature guest presentations and girledworld Co-Founders in conversation with Sally Ann Williams, Engineering Community & Outreach Program Manager, Google, Ralph Ashton, Co-Founder, Australian Futures Project and #WTFAustralia, and Nick Crocker, Partner, Blackbird Ventures. Tickets here. (Event details below and full NewCo Melbourne schedule here.)

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NewCo Melbourne: Redefine the Workplace Paradigm: How to get women to stay, lead and succeed brought to you by girledworld.

girledworld will explore the third gender revolution as we unpack diversity as an innovation driver, hear from experts about purpose-driven female leadership, and smash up workplace status quo and unconscious biases. Join us to build your toolkit on how to drive cultural transition in a positive, sustainable way, and how to create connection between industry and education to build the female pipeline of future innovators, leaders and founders.

NewCo is a festival of innovation and inspiration where mission-driven companies invite you inside their offices to share stories of positive change.

Business Insider Australia is the proud media partner of NewCo Melbourne, which kicks off on 22 November. Get your tickets and see the full schedule at www.mel.newco.co

How to teach girls Design Thinking - girledworld Summit 2017

At girledworld we get a little bit excited about innovation, ignition of ideas and problem solving. It’s why we train in and keep a hand on Design Thinking, Lean Startup, agile and anything that keeps us moving, questioning, pivoting and coming up with awesome ideas to solve the wicked problems of the world.

So we’re super excited to have education consultant and design thinking facilitator Kirsty Costa from Cool Australia joining us for the girledworld Big Ideas Leadership Summit 2017 to get hundreds of secondary school aged girls immersed in a Design Thinking workshop on Saturday June 24!

Design thinking helps us create, analyse and rebuild products and ideas. It can also be used to find creative solutions to big problems, and in this experiential workshop, participants will experience and apply each step of design thinking – from immersion to prototyping – as they work in teams to solve a live world environmental problem: the shrinking habitat of marine turtles and how Design Thinking can be used to create a prototype solution to protect their endangered nests.

Costa started out as a primary teacher, became an award-winning education consultant and now is the Head of Professional Development at Cool Australia, enabling more than 65,000 teachers to connect their lessons to the world outside the classroom every day.

Costa was awarded the 2013 Victorian Environmental and Sustainability Educator of the Year and trained by Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader in 2014. In recent years she has helped hundreds of organisations and individuals carry out exciting change projects across Australia, and worked on global environmental initiatives with Greenpeace Japan and Oxfam Community Aid Abroad.

We can’t wait for Kirsty Costa to bring her expertise, energy, turtles and big thinking to the girledworld Big Ideas Leadership Summit 2017.

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Please join us alongside some of Australia and the world's most remarkable business leaders, startup founders and STEM champions to up-skill the next generation of girls in leadership, innovation and enterprise.

girledworld Big Ideas Leadership SUMMIT 2017.

Saturday June 24 & Sunday June 25

University of Melbourne @unimelb

Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship @wadeinstitute

#stepup #startup #STEM

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Why STEM Matters to Girls.

We wish we could candy coat the stats but the numbers just aren't moving - women and girls remain grossly underrepresented in #STEM fields, and according to a recent Australian Government National Innovation and Science Agenda Report only one in four IT graduates and fewer than one in 10 engineering graduates are women.

Further, women occupy fewer than one in five senior positions in Australian universities and research institutes, and represent just one quarter of the STEM workforce overall.

This is a critical problem. Why?

Because STEM matters.

It matters because to secure Australia’s future economy, we need STEM to drive innovation, so we desperately need girls to step up to STEM, to grow their tech skillsets and mindsets, and to equip themselves for the future of work.

This will take a concerted, national effort as there are multiple cultural, institutional and organisational barriers that discourage girls and women from studying STEM, and that limit their opportunities to pursue careers in this space.

We need a movement. And it will take time.

But a big part of this is actually showing girls what they can be.

STEM role models matter. 
Girls can't be what they can't see. 
And don't know what they don't know.

So we need more STEM role models inspiring girls, science teachers, educators, media, entrepreneurs, executives, manufacturers, editors and policy-makers so more girls start to select into the mix.

This is what will start to sweeten the numbers. 💓

At Girledworld we're honoured to have the support and expertise of amazing female STEM mentors talking to and teaching girls STEM, and showing them some of the great careers built on STEM.

You can learn, meet and have the chance to chat with them at the girledworld SUMMIT at the University of Melbourne's Wade Institute the weekend of June 24/25.

Be inspired by global and local leaders in tech, deep dive coding, hear from extraordinary STEM leaders about how they started, and push your career thinking to reimagine what you and your daughters can do to embrace STEM and equip yourselves for the future of work.

Join us to make the change.

GIRLEDWORLD SUMMIT
A life-changing event for girls/Mums/Teachers/Mentors ✖️✖️
EARLY BIRD TICKETS ON-SALE NOW!! 
Get in quick before they're gone!
See you there!

Arianna(!)

I feel it’s important that from the outset, I highlight that this is an article about Arianna Huffington and NOT Ariana Grande.

This distinctive first name is known by young girls and teenagers today as an uber slim and overly glamorous pop-star, Ariana Grande. You would have heard her catchy tunes on Spotify playlists, the radio and whenever you're out and about in shops and cafes.

Is this Ariana a role model for the next generation of empowered females…? Hmm probably not. Especially not when you catch a glimpse of her overly sexual and suggestive lyrics. But I’ll stop myself before I go down the path of critiquing the state of female pop culture.

There is, however, another Arian(n)a who is an incredible role model! You've probably heard of her...

Huffington Post is one of the world’s most visited website for news, politics, sport, entertainment and wellness information. Launching online in 2005, the site sold to AOL in 2011 for a reported $300million.

For those of us who love reading Huffington Post, well, we’ve discovered even more reasons to love it’s inspirational co-founder Arianna Huffington.

Here are some of our favourite Huffington highlights:

1. She’s super smart. Moving away from her hometown Athens, Greece, Huffington moved to the UK in her late teens to study an M.A. in Economics at Cambridge University. When she arrived at Cambridge, she struggled with English and subsequently joined the debating society to improve her accent and speaking skills. Whoever said debating wasn’t cool?!

2. She’s all for more girls in STEAM pathways. Huffington highlights a number of important points in the current STEM discussion. She suggests that STEM should include Arts (to become STEAM) as arts (particularly for children) promotes creative thinking and problem solving. Without arts, we’re drowning in data and are starved of vision and wisdom. To read more from Huffington on this topic, click here.

3. She’s all about sleep. In Huffington’s latest book, The Sleep Revolution: Changing Your Life, One Night at a Time, she’s preaching sleep and rest. Huffington claims that we are in a sleep deprivation crisis which has profound consequences – on our health, our job performance, our relationships and our happiness. A timely reminder to sleep and get some rest this silly season.

4. She’s a Pulitzer Prize winner. In 2012, Huffington won a Pulitzer Prizes for National Reporting and has written 15 books to date.

5. She bucks the trend. Tech and media companies are still dominated by male owners and executives. Huffington is a shining example that it is possible for women to succeed in these industries. However, stories of female success, like Huffington are still too few and far between.

At girledworld, we champion female role models from all backgrounds. We want to ensure that female role models are visible to our younger generation. If you have any feature suggestions, we’d LOVE to hear from you. Drop us an email: hello@girledworld.com

girledworld - building the next generation of female leaders, founders and STEM champions.