Meet the team

Zoe Meredith-Brown

Zoe's journey with yLead began in Year 10 during a 2013 In School program, sparking her deep passion for empowering others. Her enthusiasm led to her role as a Prefect at St John's Anglican College and participation in the Australian Student Leadership Conference in 2015. After graduating, Zoe’s dedication to yLead was recognised in 2018 when she was named yTeamer of the Year for her exceptional volunteer work. With a Bachelor of Nursing from Queensland University of Technology, Zoe joined the yLead HQ team in that same year.

Over the years, Zoe has embraced nearly every role within the organisation. In 2021, she joined the IMPACT team as a facilitator, traveling nationwide to inspire and support young people in creating meaningful change. Zoe thrives on connecting with volunteers, educators, and students, always bringing energy, thoughtfulness, and a service-oriented mindset to her work.

In 2023, Zoe made the bold decision to begin her journey as CEO of yLead. Driven by a vision of inclusive communities where every young person recognises their potential to lead and make a difference, Zoe believes in the power of authentic self-expression and the impact of individual voices and actions.

Outside of her yLead duties, Zoe enjoys spending time at the beach, board games with loved ones, and cozying up with her favourite TV shows, reading a book on her Kindle or screaming as loud as she can for the Broncos or Collingwood!

Martin Livingstone

Martin brings a wealth of knowledge about financial reporting and management in his role as Chief Financial Officer. After studying electronic commerce at the University of Queensland, he worked in public practice as a taxation and business services accountant, finding his specialisation in self-managed superannuation funds.

Eventually, Marty found his way back to UQ as an associate lecturer in accounting, where he was involved in teaching the next generation of accounting professionals and performing research into corporate governance.

After some years, it was time for Marty to move on from the university and explore the practical side of accounting again. Moving into the construction industry as a finance manager, he quickly realised that he could add value in organising and improving the safety systems of the business. Having acquired his diploma in workplace health and safety, Marty also took on the role of WHS Manager and gained experience in industrial, commercial and residential construction safety.

Seeking a lifestyle change and to harness his desire to help young people, Martin jumped at the opportunity to join the yLead team and continue putting his accounting knowledge to good use.

Sarah Hodge

Love, acceptance and hope are three values Sarah strives to embody in everything she does. Only through her time as School Captain of St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, during which she attended a yLead conference, did she realise that those three things made her love leadership; leading and ensuring that everywhere she goes and everything she does has love, acceptance and hope at the forefront.

Deciding what impact she wanted to have after leaving school took Sarah a while to navigate, exploring a client-facing corporate career before realising she was seeking a for-purpose pathway. It took recognising that purpose and passion could go hand in hand for Sarah to take the leap and grab the opportunity to work at yLead.

yLead has been the chance for Sarah to pursue her love for education and wellbeing, and passion for serving young people. The organisation was part of her life long before it became her full-time job, but taking that next step remains one of the most important decisions she has ever made.

Beyond the yLead world, being active and connected to her body is a huge part of Sarah’s life – especially running! It’s the one thing that never fails to bring Sarah back to herself. It fills her spare time, and keeps her body and mind at their best!

George Conlon

George is a passionate individual who through facilitating yLead experiences, hopes other young people have the same realisations about leadership that he had with yLead in Year 12. As an ASLC graduate back in 2018, George knew the power of what yLead delivers and volunteered from 2019 – 2022, until eventually joining the staff team. Every day, George hopes to facilitate opportunities where young leaders can have meaningful conversations, recognise their impact and influence on others, and feeling comfortable being themselves while having fun. His favourite moments of facilitation are when students are curious and ask questions not only about the workshop content, but also personal questions that create connection.

Outside of work, George loves his sport. He follows soccer, rugby league and basketball, and he also tries his hand in playing soccer, cricket and netball. If he is not on the sports field, he is either spending time with his family and friends or has a gaming controller in his hand. If there were to be one place in the world that George would urge you to travel to, it would be Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Cealè Sadi-Brydon

Cealè had an unlikely introduction to yLead – her first experience being at our Altitude Day Roadshow in 2021 as a new staff member! Witnessing the empowering space that yLead creates, Cealè knew her time here would be full of excitement.

Ceal’s life and leadership journey has always been centred around connection with others, and her passion for supporting young people was highlighted throughout her experience in Social Work and Youth Mentorship. Fast forward to now and she finds herself connecting with thousands of young people each year, championing them to be their best and identify purpose within themselves.

The art of storytelling has always been an interesting topic to Ceal. As a facilitator, she chooses courage to share her story every day; with the aim of creating a dynamic space where stories are shared wholeheartedly, and the power of shared narrative is realised. In return, she hears many stories and often witnesses new chapters being written... One of her favourite parts of the job!

In her spare time, Cealè is a photographer, and videography and graphic design enthusiast, capturing moments and telling stories through her creative lens. Her dream is to combine compassion and creativity in pursuit of sharing the untold stories of this world… And to swim with orca whales in Norway – whichever happens first!

Jon Heard

Jon is a passionate young person who is unafraid to dream big, push the boundaries, and work towards his best. He thrives on connection and believes there is significant power in a unified collaboration of people working towards something they all enjoy and believe in; to him, that is true leadership.

Jon has been a part of our team since the beginning of 2023; however, he was first introduced to the magic of yLead in 2019 where he attended Brisbane’s Altitude Day as a Year 9 student of St Laurence’s College. Since joining yLead as a team member, Jon has taken on several responsibilities, but primarily focusses on facilitation as part of the IMPACT Team. His exuberant personality is best displayed on the stage for all audiences to feel welcome, comfortable, and excited.

While Jon enjoys and excels using creativity and imagination, he also likes to create environments where others feel that they can too. He believes that all people are creative and just need to find their avenue in which to express it. For Jon, he discovered his connection to the visual arts during his time at school.

When Jon is not on the stage or in the office, you will find him at the University of Queensland where he studies a dual bachelor’s degree of Business Management and Journalism.

Kris Emery

A lifelong learner and seeker, Kris was introduced to leadership during her modern languages degree program at the University of Southampton in the UK. After a cultural exchange program took her to Thailand and a study abroad opportunity led to a year in a university in France, Kris committed to learning more about bridging cultural differences through further education in translation and linguistics at the University of Westminster.
Since 2005, Kris has spent her career in communications. Working with words in blue chips to bestsellers, Kris has a passion for crafting messages that matter and cultivating understanding between audiences and authors.
In 2010, she left the demanding world of corporate communications and set up as a freelance editor. Fuelled by a desire to serve people who want to make a positive difference in their world, Kris has led her own non-fiction editing business for first-time authors. She has also written a book herself.
Kris puts expression and enthusiasm at the heart of all she does. She loves the power words have to change the world and is a fierce advocate for those whose stories are yet to be told.

Zoe (Zippy) Pearson

As a committed and passionate woman, Zoe is an energetic leader with a proven path in both academic and artistic capacities. Zoe met yLead at the Australian Student Leadership Conference in 2023 as a House Captain for Mary Mackillop College. ASLC was a pivotal experience for Zoe, showing her the importance of positive leadership, and how she could lead in a way that was authentic to her. Through that role, Zoe demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities, including vision, dedication, and the ability to inspire and motivate her peers.

In addition to her leadership at school, Zoe excelled in the Australian Girls Choir, where she was a loyal chorister for 11 years. Notably, she spent 6 years in the choir’s highest level, Performing Choir, along with being chosen to be the Soprano One Section Leader in her final year. This role required her to lead her section with confidence, skill, and a deep understanding of musical excellence.

After completing high school, Zoe embarked on yLead’s Thrill Out New Zealand Schoolies Alternative trip to celebrate her graduation. Shortly thereafter, she began volunteering for yLead, initially as an ASLC mentor. Her involvement quickly expanded to include various In School programs and office support. This helped Zoe work towards her overall purpose of supporting others through their leadership journeys; guiding them as they grow and develop to be great and authentic individuals.

Zoe feels extremely privileged to have been given the opportunity to join the yLead team in a full-time capacity, playing a key role in coordinating yLead travel programs and assisting the REACH team in extending their IMPACT across Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand).