In 2014 I was fortunate enough to be recognised by the community, and this recognition has subsequently enabled me to connect with many other young people in the Bendigo region. 

This past week I had the pleasure of meeting three such young people – Kelly Phan, Aimee Croft and Ruby Baker – who are dedicated to creating opportunities for leadership in Bendigo schools.

Kelly and Aimee are both in year 10 at Bendigo South East College and Eaglehawk Secondary College respectively, while Ruby is attending Bendigo Senior Secondary College. 

Despite attending different schools, they met through their participation in the 2014 Magic Moments Youth Leadership and Business Summit, held this year in Kyneton and hosting more than 100 participants from around the country.

The Magic Moments Foundation co-ordinates these annual summits, inviting keynote speakers from all walks of life to discuss the concept of leadership and how young people can demonstrate leadership in their own communities. 

Several aspects of business are also covered, from basic financial literacy all the way up to investments in property and the stock market.

In addition, the summit aims to tackle youth-specific issues such as social media etiquette, the impacts of schoolyard bullying, and the influence the media has on young people.

While Kelly, Aimee and Ruby were all able to attend the summit through sponsorship by Bendigo Bank, they felt that other young people should have the same access to leadership programs. Because of this they decided to create MotivatED – a motivational and leadership educational program.

The purpose of MotivatED is to enable the girls to pay forward the things that they have learned at the Youth Leadership and Business Summit, and to spread their philosophies that leadership is a lifestyle – not a title – and that true leadership is centred on self-love. The inaugural MotivatED event was held last Thursday at Bendigo South East College, in the form of a full day of leadership training for year 9 BSE students. The day was organised by Kelly, Aimee and Ruby with support from BSE and managed to pool a variety of guests – Amanda Millar MP, motivational speaker Catherine Moolenschot, representatives from the Bendigo Toastmasters Club, and plenty more. 

The day was a huge success by all accounts, and a truly impressive feat.

It was an inspiration to see three young women working so hard to change their schools and the wider community. 

It also demonstrates that while we have the opportunity to publically acknowledge one young person’s achievements each year there are many more young people in Bendigo contributing great things to the community and acting as great leaders.

You can support Kelly, Aimee and Ruby and the MotivatED program by following them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theMotivatEDteam