yLead is proud to partner with the following speakers for across the five locations of our residential conference. These young people are all role-models in their community, committed to driving change and making a difference in the world. We are excited to welcome them to the ASLC stage to inspire and empower the 2024 Year 12 cohort.
Find the speakers for your specific location below.
Claire Harris is the co-founder of Hoedowns For Country Towns – a 46,000km bootscooting road trip around Australia last year, teaching line dancing in rural communities and raising money for rural charities. In 273 days on the road, Claire and her co-founding partner Kate Strong ran 75 hoedowns across seven states, raising $38,250 for charity. With her next initiative around the corner – teaching line-dancing in schools throughout South Australia in 2024 – Claire is an inspiration to young people wanting to make a real difference in their community.
Claire will be speaking at: ASLC South Australia
David Titeu is dedicated to combating loneliness and preventing suicide, which is why he founded Linkmate, a social network designed for emotional support. At Linkmate, he helps people feel less lonely and more confident overcoming mental health challenges through their peer-to-peer social app and emotional resilience workshops. David created the Emotional Resilience Program, an immersive workshop experience that equips staff and students with proactive wellbeing tools to future-proof their mental health.
David’s awards include the Early Ethical Entrepreneur of the Year by Moral Fairground and the University of Melbourne, Finalist in the 7News Young Achiever Awards for Leadership and Safety and Wellbeing, LinkedIn Australia’s Top 15 Voices in Mental Health and the B-Good Pause Award on behalf of Linkmate.
David will be speaking at: ASLC Victoria
Jack Growden is the 26-year-old founder of LiteHaus International. He is passionate about conquering inequality and making access to digital technology equitable around the world. Among the many other accolades for his philanthropy, Jack has been recognised as one of the top 20 social innovators under 35 in the Asia-Pacific region, selected as a 2022 One Young World Lead 2030 Challenge Winner, and named a Finalist in the 2022 Queensland Young Australian of the Year award. He has presented at conferences in Malaysia, Thailand and Australia, as well as online to global audiences.
Jack will be speaking at: ASLC North Queensland
James Bannah has founded SoundsOfAdelaide and Steelo Flow, both of which are communities for Adelaide creatives and musicians. In addition, James runs after-school programs that improve understanding and communication between people of colour from a variety of upbringings and with a range of skill levels. As a multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer, James won the SA Young Achiever Award in 2023. James composed the music for the first ever African Australian musical called The Deep North, an empowering story about finding your voice and the meaning of home. James has recently worked with Act Now Theatre and State Theatre Company SA, with projects coming to fruition in 2025.
James will be speaking at: ASLC South Australia
Joshua Robson is a motivational speaker, testicular cancer survivor and founder of Turn Up. The purpose of creating Turn Up has been to share Josh’s story about fighting testicular cancer with as many people, companies and organisations as possible. Josh wants to share how his toughest days taught him how to live his best life. Turn Up wants to bring awareness to appreciating your health, getting regular health check-ups, and not ignoring any warning signs. Turn Up emphasises to the world how important it is to take that first step, which can be as simple as turning up to each day with a smile on your face and having a positive attitude. Josh also speaks about how important it is to set goals and surround yourself with the right people to help you achieve your dreams and give you courage when you need it most.
Josh will be speaking at: ASLC Victoria
Tom Price founded You Are Not Alone in late 2021 as a year 11 student, after seeing first hand how mental health affected him and people around him. He found that speaking about mental health was the best way to normalise the struggles that young people face, and wanted to raise awareness. Tom made a short film with the support of his peers, which featured young people, celebrities and community members speaking about mental health. He continues to build on the initiative, and has grown significantly since 2021, with the awareness Fun Run being the pinnacle of You Are Not Alone’s work in 2023. Funds raised through the event will allow the organisation to introduce positive mental health programs into schools around Australia.
Tom will be speaking at: ASLC South-East Queensland
Zhanae Dodd is a proud Ghungalu, Birri, Widi/Wiri and Kaanju woman who lives on Darumbal Country. Zhanae has worked across many sectors inclusive of the Arts and Culture Sector, First Nations Community, Youth and Social Care, Government and agriculture. She brings with her a range of expertise in First Nations cultural advocacy, human rights and social action, Pacific relations, entrepreneurship, community/stakeholder engagement and journalism. Zhanae is the founder and CEO of Groove Co, which works in diverse ways – from grassroots to corporate – to foster cultural connection and competency. Zhanae is proud of her work spearheading the Yambanga Yuindi program – a cultural immersion and exchange program between Indigenous Australia and New Zealand – and was named Finalist for the Australian Human Rights Youth Medal in late 2022.
Zhanae will be speaking at: ASLC Central Queensland
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