Tuesday, June 8, 2021
2021 Secondary Youth Leadership Conference Success!
Author
Wil Massara
Chief Executive Officer & Founder
Wow! It is hard to believe it has been over two months since we wrapped up our 2021 National Secondary Youth Leadership Conference tour.
Despite all the struggles we encountered through the planning process, from lockdowns to dealing with border closures to even the postponement of the Melbourne event, I am beyond proud of the response we have received from both students and schools.
Across the nine events, we positively impacted over 4000 students from nearly 300 schools, with some travelling over 12 hours to attend the event.
At each event, we offered both students and teachers the opportunity to provide invaluable feedback that will allow us to continue to grow and develop the program. In total, we received 1403 responses from students highlighting the following at the end of the day:
- 91.49% of students felt more adequately prepared for the future after attending.
- 93.85% of students felt more confident to lead their school.
- 95% of students would recommend this event to other students.
With 93 responses from teachers, the following results were revealed:
- 86.02% of teachers felt the content presented was valuable to students.
- 83.12% of teachers felt more confident in their student’s ability to lead after attending.
- 88.17% of teachers would recommend this event to other schools and organisations.
Both students and teachers made several very positive and clear recommendations to improve the impact and quality of this series of events going forward. Unfortunately, this year we were constrained with the number of interaction students could have with other schools due to our COVIDSafe event plans that had to follow government guidelines and advice. However, we are confident that we will be able to increase engagement between schools and create a more collaborative environment in the future.
Over the coming months, the team will be developing the official YLAA Leadership Framework based on years of research documents within leadership and professional development to support student beyond school.
As well as this, YLAA aims to implement more take-home skillsets within the event to create a greater level of value for students.
In response to recommendations for this event to have breakout sessions, whilst this is something that we have considered many times. Unfortunately, this would require additional venue hire, speaker fees and AV equipment. YLAA understands our ticket prices are 20 - 40 per cent lower than our competitors. These costs increase ticket prices and limit the number of schools which could attend. In turn, take the event out of alignment with the vision of providing leadership opportunities to all students regardless of their financial position.
Finally, YLAA will continue to engage community and state leaders as keynote speakers to support students in becoming more aware of their ability to impact and lead within their home, school, and community.
We appreciate the commitment and energy it takes for schools to get students to our events, and thank you for your investment in our future.
In 2021 our events sold out four months before the events, and we would hate for you to miss out which is why we invite you to reserve tickets now.
Additional Note: This article was written by,
Wil Massara
. This author is a member of YLAA's Youth Advisory Board. As our organisation continues to evolve, we want to make sure that we continue to represent and empower the voices of youth in their own affairs, that’s why we have created our first Youth Advisory Board - not only to ensure that our students’ interests are at the core of every aspect of our organisation, but also to give the young people we serve the opportunity to develop themselves personally, whilst contributing to our mission of ensuring a sustainable future for all youth.
