Carla Talbot is passionate about human rights and social justice and in particular gender equality, so much so that in 2008 she started Two Degrees of Separation to support and mentor young women.
Last year, more than 200 young women between the ages of 16 and 30 took part in the Two Degrees of Separation mentoring program. Designed specifically for females, mentees are partnered carefully with mentors based on shared goals and areas of development nominated by the mentee, providing an intensive 12-month program accessible to participants regardless of socio-economic, educational or cultural backgrounds.
Carla Talbot, also a member of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), has worked in a voluntary capacity alongside a YWCA staff member over the last two years to recruit additional volunteers for the Two Degrees of Separation steering committee, now consisting of six members.
But the biggest challenge for the program still exists: finding the resources to match each woman with a mentor. Currently the matches are prioritised on the basis of need, potential for benefit and appropriate matching of interest and skills between the mentee and mentor. Additionally, Carla has indicated that succession planning for the steering committee will be a major focus of the next 12 months, in order to preserve the longevity of the initiative.
Thanks to evaluations carried out periodically at three, six and twelve month intervals, Carla believes Two Degrees of Separation is effective in providing guidance and professional support, and is further convinced by the strong demand for positions in the program. As well as this, feedback from participants indicates interest in the program; they steer discussion topics towards areas of interest such as finance, superannuation and saving for a first home.
Carla is looking forward to improving her leadership skills and building strong professional networks in the Young Social Pioneer's program.
Most teenagers can comfortably believe most of life's challenges lay ahead of them. Not so for Chris Boyd, who was diagnosed with a tumour the size of a table-tennis ball at the base of his brain at only 19 years of age.
Following six harrowing months of chemo and radiotherapy, he lives to tell the tale about the difficulties faced by young cancer patients, and the support network he hopes to make available to them.
Australian Youth Against Cancer (AYAC) is just that; an online support network established in 2009, which gathers people who have been diagnosed with cancer to share their experiences and help one another through it.
With the hope of AYAC's site (www.ayac.com.au) one day becoming "the pre-eminent young adult cancer resource," Chris believes it will also be an effective vehicle to develop inter-hospital networks for young cancer patients.
And it's not all just talk. He believes AYAC can contribute effectively towards fundraising for a cure, thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of young Australians when it comes to creating exciting major appeals. Leading by example, Chris is embarking on a two month-long kayak trip down the Murray River, with all monies raised to be donated to the cancer support centre, Lifehouse, at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
While acknowledging the effects of AYAC are currently local, with a launch event and ongoing fundraising activity forecasted for the second half of 2010, Chris believes the organisation has the chance to soon impact on a national level too.
Chris Raine woke up one day with a hangover after a big night out, and wondered if binge drinking was really worth the $15 billion it costs Australia each year. Since 2009, he has worked to tell the story and spread the word about how fulfilling life can be for those who choose not to make alcohol a part of their lives.
Hello Sunday Morning aims to speak to young people around the country (and the globe) about the culture of binge drinking in a way Chris feels existing government campaigns do not. In stark contrast to fear-based advertising campaigns, Hello Sunday Morning creates narrative in an online space to assist people in sharing the benefits of full, fun and happy lives without drinking.
Via his website (www.hellosundaymorning.com) which includes video interviews and Skype conversations, as well as a presence on Facebook, the stories and experiences of those who feel the same as Chris have reached an estimated 9000 Australians.
By changing his own behaviour, Chris took the first step towards a very large challenge: convincing people that drinking doesn't have to be a part of typical Australian life. And he's not alone. Nationally, there are more than 75 bloggers who contribute regularly to Hello Sunday Morning, creating posts of support, motivation and story-telling.
So, is Chris effective? He believes so. A survey was conducted of 120 friends of one of the site's contributing bloggers, which found 91% felt unaffected by the current anti-binge drinking advertising campaigns, and 84% found the posts on Hello Sunday Morning made them think critically about their own drinking behaviours.
With these figures in mind, Chris hopes the Young Social Pioneers program with arm him with skills to continue building his organisation.
After spending several years volunteering at a range of different organisations, Elliot began discussing his passion for social justice, and realised many of his friends felt the same 'unshakeable belief' that every human being has the right to their own freedom, especially children.
In 2008 Elliot co-founded YGAP, a movement designed to support grass-root organisations working on projects with an aim to eliminate poverty and its devastating effects on communities, worldwide.
YGAP aims to provide innovative and practical opportunities for young Australians to volunteer and contribute, and currently has over 120 regular volunteers.
Starting out supporting projects based in Africa, YGAP has now launched a series of local projects, notably the Kinfolk Cafe in Bourke St, Melbourne's CBD, whereby customer can elect an organisation where they would like the proceeds donated to.
Internationally, YGAP's volunteers have assisted in the construction of classrooms in Malawi and Bangladesh, the building of a vocational training centre in Ghana and the undertaking of a community development project in Rwanda.
A key strength of the organisation is that it invites volunteers to contribute in a manner they see best fits. By providing space for volunteers to flourish, the organisation has been able to retain active and engaged volunteers.
Elliot is hoping that the Young Social Pioneers program will enable him to network with like-minded young people, build YGAP's brand and learn from the experiences of others.
In 2007 Freeman was given the opportunity to help organise a multifaith youth event with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He later attended an interfaith conference in Chicago, where he listened to a Muslim Sheikh give a speech about Islam; speaking about justice, kindness and compassion. From this Freeman saw how powerful learning about different backgrounds and perspectives could be and the seed to start an interfaith action was planted.
Since starting InterAction in 2008, Freeman has been slowly laying the foundations of an Australian interfaith youth movement - bringing youth from all backgrounds together, to enact social change.
InterAction holds regular interfaith gatherings and events to encourage people to work together to achieve a common goals, such as an event at Monash University where young people of all backgrounds worked together to build a community garden space on campus.
The volunteers involved in InterAction continue to be a presence at different volunteer events and the movement is about to launch in Brisbane.
Freeman is also involved in sharing his message of harmony at a range of local and international interfaith conferences, and a group of seven InterAction volunteers ran a workshop at the Parliament of the World's Religions - the world's largest interfaith gathering.
In the presentation the InterAction speakers drew on knowledge and confidence gained from a three day youth leadership training course the program held, demonstrating the way in which training can empower people.
Freeman says that the Young Social Pioneers' program provides support and reassurance that there are young people doing positive things for their communities. He is looking forward to the peer to peer learning and furthering his leadership, business and administration skills.
Genevieve was inspired to start Bus Stop Films after making a documentary for Down Syndrome NSW. The documentary followed six young people with Down Syndrome and their families, and then helped them to fulfill their goals.
While creating the film Genevieve met Gerard Odwyer, a young man with Down Syndrome and a passion for acting. Genevieve saw an opportunity to help him realise his dreams and started her first inclusive film project called Be My Brother, aimed at showcasing his acting abilities, and communicating many of the issues faced by young people living with a disability.
At the time, Genevieve had also been working with Accessible Arts, and was a participant in a mixed abilities acting ensemble. Seeing a need for more inclusion within the film industry, she started Bus Stop Films; an inclusive film production company giving people of all abilities the chance to learn and participate in the creation of content within the film industry.
Gerard went on to win Best Male actor at Tropfest 2009, the largest short film festival in the world for his role as Richard in Be My Brother - a truly rewarding moment for Genevieve. Other actors in Genevieve's films have also won accolades and gone on to participate in other film projects after having exposure.
Importantly, Bus Stop Films' work is being used to create awareness for social inclusion, especially within schools around Australia through the Best Buddies Leadership program.
Genevieve is looking forward to gaining new management skills via the Young Social Pioneer's program, to further progress her film production company, enabling her to help more people like Gerard.
Jakob Quilligan 2010 Pioneer
Australia
Project OUTthere Rural Victorian Youth Council For Sexual Diversity Age 19 Sitehttp://www.wayout.org.au
Jakob spent his teenage years in a small town with a population of approximately 800. During this time he came to terms with the fact that he was homosexual; he also became acutely aware that the country town environment wasn't accepting of this fact. He faced isolation and a lack of support.
Jakob is one of the co-founders of OUTthere, a youth council with a mission to 'raise awareness, advocate and provide resources to communities, youth services, schools and government departments about the issues facing same sex attracted and gender diverse young people'.
Jakob sees the role of OUTthere as a means to create a united voice for same sex attracted and gender diverse young people; an opportunity to actively engage communities around the state and create significant social and behavioural change.
OUTthere has recently completed an online survey designed to investigate young peoples' experiences of homophobia and will produce a report to be submitted to the Department of Education with the hope its recommendations are put in place to better rural secondary school environments for same sex attracted and gender diverse young people.
Jakob and the OUTthere program was also involved in supporting IDAHO (The International Day Against Homophobia), to say "NO" to homophobia, an event gathering in Bendigo of approximately 150 people.
Jakob became interested in the Young Social Pioneer's program after his friends Kat and Jack, also part of OUTthere, undertook the inaugural program last year. He hopes he can gain the leadership qualities and experience the personal growth they did.
Disillusioned with the existing selection of magazines targeted at young women and tired of seeing unrealistic images of beauty, a lack of meaningful and intelligent content and poor role models, Jo started C.O.P.
Initially a university project looking at the mainly undocumented area of female participation in graffiti in Australia, Jo and her now business partner, Erika, decided to expand the concept to make it about more than just graffiti.
Issue 2 of C.O.P. was born and an interest grew amongst young women looking to access content about strong, independent, talented and educated women in a well presented format.
The magazine has been revered by people in the music industry, and has helped co-curate an exhibition at the world-renowned Strychnin Gallery. Further to this some of C.O.P's network of artists has gone on to be part of a worldwide exhibition put on in partnership with Andy Howell (Shepherd Fairey's manager/Arts Projekt LA).
C.O.P and its 20 volunteers are currently working on its fourth issue of C.O.P and Jo says it's the moments when a young woman says to her, "wow, I thought there was no one else out there like me" that she knows her project is a success.
Jo hopes the Young Social Pioneers program will help her improve her business skills.
