The NYCA Youth Ambassadors are young people who represent the NYCA in various ways in the course of its work on a needs basis. Youth Ambassadors consult directly with young people and ensure that their voices are resoundingly heard and represented in the work of the NYCA.
Young Ambassadors can represent a state or a region or they can represent a cohort of young people.
If you are interested in becoming an NYCA Ambassador please contact us on info@nycinquiry.org.au
Merinda Dryden is a proud Yorta Yorta & Dja Dja Warrung woman. She is active in Aboriginal Affairs. Merinda is a strong advocate for Indigenous children and young people in the foster care system. She is determined to spread the beauty of Indigenous culture across Australia. She believes that “Cultural connection offers a place of healing”. “Culture is what makes us complete and without that, we have nothing. “ she says. Merinda has recently been a participant in the National Indigenous Youth Parliament in Canberra. Merinda represented Australia as being the first Aboriginal women to walk the cat walk in the São Paulo Fashion Week in Brazil. In the future she dreams of seeing the foster care system changed to better support family kinship as a whole before removing the child.
Emily Roberts is a full-time student at the University of Melbourne. She hails from Victoria and enjoys volunteering with a variety of organisations. Emily is grateful for the amazing opportunity to be a National Youth Commission Ambassador and is passionate about access to education and has done work on the transition between school and tertiary education within the university context. When not glued to a computer screen she spends time baking and reading especially crime novels.
Elizabeth Knight is a second-year student at the University of Western Australia, studying a Bachelor of Philosophy (Hons), majoring in Management, Political Science & International Relations. Through her own experiences transitioning from school to further studies, she discovered that support for young people during this challenging time was very limited. Consequently, she has become extremely passionate about empowering young people to reach their full potential and develop fulfilling futures for themselves. Elizabeth volunteers at Bloom, a youth led not-for-profit which supports and engages young people with entrepreneurship. She has also convened residential leadership conferences for high school students, and mentored primary-aged students from regional schools through Teach Learn Grow. In her spare time she is developing her own social enterprise and hopes to pursue an entrepreneurial career pathway in the future.
Jacob Mildren is from Wodonga in North East Victoria and is a proud advocate of young people, especially those in regional areas. Jacob has assisted and led many community youth programs which aim to engage disconnected young people in their communities. He co-founded the Border Leadership Forum growing leadership in the North East Victorian community. Jacob is currently completing a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Policy Studies at the Australian National University, where he has co-founded a scholarship to assist regional young people to engage with the university. Jacob is a strong proponent of educating and skilling regional young people. He was named Wodonga Young Citizen of the Year in 2016 for his ongoing work with young people and the greater community.
Tegan Pearce lives in Hobart and has a strong interest in empowering young people to contribute to their community. She is passionate about ensuring the needs of young people are met and their voices are heard. Up until recently Tegan worked at the Youth Network of Tasmania as the Policy and Project Officer of the Tasmanian Youth Forum, the peak consultative body for young Tasmanians that addresses a wide range of topics including education, employment and homelessness. In her spare time, Tegan also volunteers to develop the leadership skills of young Tasmanians through her role as a Facilitator on the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards program in Tasmania. Tegan’s dedication to improving the lives of young people has been acknowledged through her acceptance into leadership programs and opportunities to represent Tasmania at national and international forums.
Kiara O’Gorman is working as a senior teacher in the small, rural community of Calen located in between Mackay and Airlie Beach in Queensland. She is passionate about young people living in rural and remote areas, and their social, academic and vocational outcomes. This has culminated in her working towards a Masters of Education specialising in School Guidance Counselling and Career Development through QUT. She is also a strong advocate of STEM, and loves coding in her free time.