She Leads College Conference is a one-day leadership event that gives female-identifying students in years 11 and 12 the opportunity to formulate skills in leadership, develop their leadership identities, and reflect upon the varying challenges faced by a diverse range of young women in attaining leadership roles.
Over the course of the day, students will hear from a diverse line up of leaders all under the age of 30, and will be introduced to a range of leadership pathways that exist within their community. Through interactive workshops, inspiring keynotes and panel sessions, students will be supported to gain practical skills and will have the opportunity to analyse and discuss questions about leadership and what it takes to make social change.
The conference supports students to:
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a school excursion, and all students must attend with their teachers/school supervisors
Cost and inclusions: $40 per student. Registration includes a full-day program of talks and workshops, morning tea and lunch, activity booklet and pen, and swag. The registration deadline is 19 March.
Scholarships: Scholarships are available. Please contact email SheLeads@ywca-canberra.org.au for more information.
Transport: Transport needs to be organised independently by schools.
Bec McConnell is a 29-year-old born and bred Canberran who has had dreams of being a professional mountain biker since she was a kid. In the company of her brother and dad, Bec took up the sport at age 10. By age 20, she made her Olympic debut at the 2012 games in London.
April is a writer, podcaster and activist. Aside from her corporate experience as a leader within private and public sector roles, she also led the recent campaign for Curvy Swimwear as the first plus size bikini model to appear on Australian billboards.
Karina’s career has taken several unexpected turns, from tsunami hunter in New Zealand, to archaeologist in Bulgaria, to touring science theatre with Questacon’s Science Circus. She is currently completing a PhD at ANU which,broadly speaking, aims to “punch the white patriarchy in the face”. With science, of course.
Leah House is a Ngambri woman who works as a Case Manager at the Women’s Legal Centre. Leah works across the Centre to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to use the legal system to get stronger outcomes for themselves, their families and their communities. She provides strong cultural knowledge and leadership to support cultural safety and self-determination for Aboriginal women at the Centre and across Canberra.
Jakida is a community leader who loves to work with young children sharing culture, art and leading the steps into creating a better future for all Australians. She has danced for Prince William and Princess Katherine, and most recently Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Governor General. She recently featured in the Canberra Times for International Women’s Day to talk about how it is to be an Aboriginal woman.
Jenessa is an accomplished technologist, Chair of the UN Women Australia Canberra International Women’s Day Committee, and recipient of both the first Women in ICT Emerging Leader award (2019) and the ARN Women in ICT Rising Star award (2020). Jenessa works to use her talent, skills and vision to pave a world-changing career pathway.
Krishaa is a passionate feminist, writer, and strong support advocate. She is currently a student at the Australian National University, studying a double undergraduate degree of Laws (Honours) and Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Krishaa currently works as the Strategic Communications and Advocacy Intern at the CBR Gals Network, a feminist not-for-profit.
The theme of She Leads College Conference 2021 is Wild and is about harnessing personal adversity and using it to bloom into young leaders. The theme highlights how young women and gender diverse people can identify unique roadblocks facing them and use those adversities to thrive as leaders in their personal and professional capacities.
By encouraging student’s attendance, you will provide them with the opportunity to develop their leadership potentials and increase their capacities to take on leadership roles within their school environment and beyond.
Please review our She Leads Participation Policy.
Teachers must attend the event and provide appropriate supervision and care of students. YWCA Canberra staff will not provide supervision of students and will not be responsible for the arrival or departure of students, or for their behaviour on the day.
Schools should treat this event as an excursion and will need to independently organise all photo permissions forms, necessary permission slips, and transportation.
Schools are responsible for managing the allocation of places to interested students; there are 10 available places for each school.
Each registered student will need to be completed and returned to the She Leads team. This is not the permission slip that should be used by teachers to gain guardian permission to take students to the event. Teachers access to their own school-specific permission slips and use those to gain guardian permission.
Please email all the photography consent forms to sheleads@ywca-canberra.org.au
If you are a young woman, female-identifying or non-binary person interested in attending the She Leads College Conference, you will need to let your teacher or principal know that you want to come along to the event. Your school may be sending other students too, or they may not yet know about this event.
You will need to treat this event like any other school excursion, which means having a guardian sign your school permission slip and organising transportation to and from the event.
You and your guardian will also need to complete the photography consent form, which needs to be returned to the She Leads team before to the event. Please give the photography consent form to your teacher, who will then provide the forms to us.
For further details relating to the event, please review the Teacher Pack, or for any queries please contact the She Leads team at sheleads@ywca-canberra.org.au or call YWCA Canberra on (02) 6175 9900.
Our sixth annual She Leads College Conference was held on 12 March at the Ann Harding Centre, thanks to the support of our ongoing Venue Partnership with the University of Canberra. This year there was a record breaking 120 young women and non-binary students in attendance, with students from Canberra, the surrounding regions and rural NSW.
The Conference was themed Unstoppable, inspired by the 2019 International Day of the Girl Child theme — GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable.
Attendees left the Conference with a greater understanding of leadership, how to effect meaningful change, how to identify positive and negative situations in their homes and communities, and gained new skills and tools to manage the myriad of issues that they face each day. Attendees were exposed to a range of post-school career options through the diverse speaker line-up, providing them with an opportunity to explore their future options, and define their interests and aspirations. They learned how to communicate effectively through the art of improv and had the ability to network with key young women leaders in the community.
The program included the return of College favourite, local MC and comedian, Maddy Weeks, keynote speeches from Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts and Han Worsley, a panel featuring Vendulka, Mariam Mohammed, Gina Zheng and Taylor Fitzgerald and two workshops, one on self-care and mindfulness hosted by YWCA Canberra Youth Engagement team members, Annie-Lea Rowley and Ciara Duggan, and an improv session hosted by Lightbulb Improv.
Feedback about the Conference was overwhelmingly positive. Of the 115 evaluation surveys received from students:
Of the 12 evaluation surveys received from teachers:
Of the Conference, attendees stated:
Of the Conference, teachers stated:
To learn more about the 2020 She Leads College Conference, see the following:
Our fifth annual She Leads College Conference was held on 20 March at the Ann Harding Centre, thanks to the support of our ongoing Venue Partnership with the University of Canberra. This year there was over 100 young women and non-binary students in attendance, with students from Canberra, the surrounding regions and rural NSW.
The Conference was themed Innovators – (You)th Can Change the World, which paid homage to the global political and social action demonstrated by Gen Z within the past year. Further, it honoured the drive of young women and non-binary people, aiming to cultivate their drive and provide them with the skillset to become innovators.
Attendees left the Conference with a greater understanding of leadership, how to effect meaningful change, how to identify positive and negative situations in their homes and communities, and gained new skills and tools to manage the myriad of issues that they face each day. Attendees were exposed to a range of post-school career options through the diverse speaker line-up, providing them with an opportunity to explore their future options, and define their interests and aspirations. Through a facilitated peer networking session, the attendees were able to identify key social issues, actively listen to alternative opinions and respectfully create discussion.
The program included local MC and comedian, Maddy Weeks, a keynote speech from Emma Byrne, a panel featuring Georgia Maq, Renee Songoro, Tina Dixson and Kemiso Matlho, a networking activity facilitated by Ashleigh Streeter and two workshops: You Can Be An Innovator hosted by YWCA Canberra Youth Engagement team members, Annie-Lea Rowley and Ciara Duggan, and What YOU have to offer hosted by Defence Force Recruiting team members.
Feedback about the Conference was overwhelmingly positive. Of the 85 evaluation surveys received from students:
Of the 16 evaluation surveys received from teachers:
Of the Conference, attendees stated:
To learn more about the 2019 She Leads College Conference, see the following:
Our fourth She Leads College Conference was again held at the Ann Harding Centre, thanks to our ongoing Venue Partnership with the University of Canberra. The Conference was held on Thursday 22 March, and welcomed 80 young women from 10 ACT and Canberra-region schools in years 11 and 12.
The Conference theme, Trailblazer, drove the design and outcomes of the event, with attendees being exposed to a deeper understanding of leadership that extends to the change leaders have the potential to make in their homes, schools, communities, and workplaces.
Attendees left the Conference with a greater understanding of leadership, how to effect change, how to identify positive and negative situations in their homes and communities, and gained new skills and tools to manage the myriad of issues that they face each day. Attendees were also exposed to a range of post-school career options through the speed networking session, providing them with an opportunity to explore their future options, and define their interests and aspirations.
Through our evaluation process, the 2018 Conference changed format slightly, with more activities for shorter duration’s, and more of the day being hosted by YWCA Canberra staff, including the Youth Engagement team, and more local and accomplished young women.
The program included local MC, Codie Bell, two keynote speeches from Hani Abdile and Karlie Noon, a panel featuring Hannah Gissane, Laura Piscopo, and FLTLT Esther Suh, a speed networking session including Engy Salah, Tahlia-Rose Vanissum, Ashleigh Streeter, Lavanya Kala, Ashley St George, Tomasina Purcell, Joanna Richards, and Elizabeth Bowler, and two workshops: Making Positive Change hosted by YWCA Canberra Youth Engagement team members, Annie-Lea Rowley and Aoife Herrick, and Leading Together to Achieve as One hosted by Defence Force Recruiting team members FLTLT Esther Suh and PO Alee-Marie Scarfone.
Feedback about the Conference was overwhelmingly positive. Of the 48 evaluation surveys received:
Of the Conference, attendees stated:
To learn more about the 2018 She Leads College Conference, see the following:
The event was designed to provide a safe space for girls in year 11 and 12 to be inspired by young women leaders and gain the confidence, knowledge and practical skills to kick-start their leadership journeys.
As well as providing an engaging, interesting experience, our objectives were that as a result of the Conference, young women would walk away with:
Building on the success of the 2016 program, our program for 2017 included plenary sessions (including keynote presentation), two workshops, and an afternoon networking session. The Conference was emceed by yLead’s Bel Yorston, was opened by Madalein Tier, and included a keynote presentation by Sarah Moran. The networking session included eight young inspiring women from a range of sectors that discussed their leadership journey with attendees, and included Sarah Moran, Alice Workman, Alex Schumann-Gillet, Ciara Duggan, Codie Bell, Elise Pirotta, Sally Moylan, Cathy Pecotz, and Esther Suh. Workshops were facilitated by Bel Yorston and Esther Suh, and focused on leadership, confidence, and communication skills.
Feedback about the Conference was overwhelmingly positive, with 98 per cent strongly agreeing or agreeing that they would recommend the Conference to other young women, and 98 per cent of respondents rating the College Conference as excellent or good.
Of the Conference, attendees stated:
To learn more about the 2017 She Leads College Conference, see the following:
The 2016 Conference was built around dismantling the traditional definition of leadership, which is one that has seeped into our collective consciousness, and contributes in making the identity of a ‘leader’ inaccessible to many young people – especially young women. To combat this idea of traditional and inaccessible leadership, the Conference included a wealth of young women leaders to discuss their leadership journey and offer advice to the next generation of young women.
The event was emceed by yLead’s Bel Yorston, opening remarks were delivered by Caitlin Sandercock, and the Keynote speaker was Amelia Telford. The networking session allowed participants the opportunity to learn the value of networking while interacting with young women from the Canberra community who are leading and creating change. The networking sessions speakers included Farz Edraki, Caitlin Figueiredo, Erica Hediger, Emma Pocock, Ange Reakes, Rachael Stevens, Annabel Szekely, and Hannah Wandel, and workshops were facilitated by Bel Yorston, Annabel Szekely, Esther Suh, Kylie McGuinness, and Kirsty Bird.
Event feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with 94 per cent agreeing that as a result of attending the She Leads College Conference they now have a greater understanding of leadership, 95 per cent agreeing that the Conference provided them with practical tools that they will be able to apply, and 100 per cent rating the Conference as excellent or good overall.
Of the Conference, attendees stated:
To learn more about the 2016 She Leads College Conference, see the following:
The theme for the 2015 Conference was – Discover. Connect. Ignite. The event was designed to provide a safe space for girls in year 11 and 12 to be inspired by young women leaders, and gain the confidence, knowledge and practical skills to kick-start their leadership journeys.
The overarching theme of the Conference covered topics such as leadership myths and realities – what does is really mean to be a leader?, awareness of gender stereotypes, supporting positive body image, self-confidence, unconventional leadership/career paths, and learning to deal with failure and building resilience.
The Conference was emceed by Zoya Patel, and saw speakers and panellists from various industries including Carly Findlay, Sally Moylan, Ashleigh Grogan, Haylee Collins, Annabel Szekely, and Meredith. Workshops were run by Heather Dawson and independent magazine Young Vegabond, and focused on finding a leadership identity and identifying that there are many types of successful leadership styles, and engaging attendees to think critically about how constructs of gender affect their lives.
Of the Conference, attendees stated:
To learn more about the 2015 She Leads College Conference, see the following: