State Youth Leadership Conference

Having an impact through connecting with people

Last Monday, a small group of the school’s captains headed off on the tram to the Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre for the 2023 State youth leadership conference. There were secondary schools that had travelled from all over the state for the conference run by Youth Leadership Academy Australia.

The conference was insightful, including guest speakers such as Fiona Stanford who is the CEO of Flourish Girl. She spoke about her experience of becoming a leader and the struggles that she had to overcome to get there. Mohamad Semra also spoke on issues on racism and exclusion in leadership, inspiring us all with his speech.

The hosts of the event were fantastic and enthusiast the whole day, encouraging everyone to introduce themselves to new people. One of the hosts, Amanda Marshall, introduced us to her new podcast that we are free to listen to. The Founder of the event and organization Wil Massara explained to us how Youth Leadership Australia came to be, and his story was realistic and explanative. The day was overall inspiring and an amazing conference to attend.

~Eve Walker-O'Connor Year 9