Growing up in Melbourne’s multicultural south-east, Ashvina De Zoysa (she/her) just assumed that would mean the area had support services tailored to CALD people. As she got older she realised this wasn’t the case, so when COVID hit she knew she wanted to do something to support her community. Fast forward to now and Ashvina has provided several meals to her local CALD community through her initiative COOK4CALD. Ashvina shares her advice if you want to start something similar, and why supporting the community where you grew up just hits different.   Read this episode’s transcript.   - - -   Mentioned in this episode: COOK4CALD: Cook4CALD.org   - - -   Want regular opportunities + support to make change in your community? Learning from COVID + activism resources: YACVic.org.au/COVID-youth-work Become a YACVic member (FREE for young people!): YACVic.org.au/become-a-member Subscribe to our newsletter: YACVic.org.au/sign-up-for-our-newsletters Connect with us: @YACVic on IG, FB & Twitter

Have you ever looked at a job ad asking for certain skills or qualifications and thought, couldn’t my life experience just qualify me for this? Lived experience is a unique expertise many young people don’t realise they have, that is actually super valuable in advocacy work. In this episode, Mac Zamani (he/him) talks about how he was always interested in getting involved in advocacy but never had the connections to do it. Hear how and why that changed during the pandemic, and how to create a way of doing advocacy that works for you!   Read this episode’s transcript.   - - -   Mentioned in this episode: YDAS Young Leaders Program: YACVic.org.au/YDAS/get-involved/YoungLeaders YDAS COVID-19 Advisory Group: contact Is Hay (they/them) – ihay@ydas.org.au or 0472 635 607   - - -   Want regular opportunities + support to make change in your community? Learning from COVID + activism resources: YACVic.org.au/COVID-youth-work Become a YACVic member (FREE for young people!): YACVic.org.au/become-a-member Subscribe to our newsletter: YACVic.org.au/sign-up-for-our-newsletters Connect with us: @YACVic on IG, FB & Twitter

Young people regularly make up the majority of regional and rural sports clubs, yet often aren’t included in any of the decision-making. So 16-year-old athlete Louis Janssen (she/he/they) decided to join their local club’s committee, leading her to create a junior committee for young representatives too. Louis shares how often for young athletes it’s not that they’re actively excluded from leadership, adults just don’t even consider that they’d be interested – and how to change that in your own club.   Read this episode’s transcript.   - - -   Mentioned in this episode: Louis’ experience with RSV and YACs: YACVic.org.au/green-flags   - - -   Want regular opportunities + support to make change in your community? Learning from COVID + activism resources: YACVic.org.au/COVID-youth-work Become a YACVic member (FREE for young people!): YACVic.org.au/become-a-member Subscribe to our newsletter: YACVic.org.au/sign-up-for-our-newsletters Connect with us: @YACVic on IG, FB & Twitter

Some of the greatest momentum yet of environmental action came to a halt with the pandemic, as low waste lifestyles were eclipsed by single-use masks. Candace Colaco (she/her) shares her tips and tricks for taking local-scale environment action, with a big impact on her community.   Read this episode’s transcript.   - - -   Mentioned in this episode: Little Litter Project: @LittleLitterProject on Facebook and Instagram Candace’s tips for environmental action during COVID: YACVic.org.au/blog/environment-action-little-litter   - - -   Want regular opportunities + support to make change in your community? Learning from COVID + activism resources: YACVic.org.au/COVID-youth-work Become a YACVic member (FREE for young people!): YACVic.org.au/become-a-member Subscribe to our newsletter: YACVic.org.au/sign-up-for-our-newsletters Connect with us: @YACVic on IG, FB & Twitter

Emerging artists have been excluded from so many COVID supports, where will their place be in Victoria’s COVID recovery? Meet Mia Boonen (she/her), a young drama student and teacher. She shares how she’s been advocating for herself and her students, and why making arts education more accessible and diverse must be the way forward.    Read this episode’s transcript.   - - -   Mentioned in this episode: Mia’s drama school: DramaWerkz.com YDAS: YACVic.org.au/YDAS   Mia’s website: www.msboonen.com   - - -   Want regular opportunities + support to make change in your community? Learning from COVID + activism resources: YACVic.org.au/COVID-youth-work Become a YACVic member (FREE for young people!): YACVic.org.au/become-a-member Subscribe to our newsletter: YACVic.org.au/sign-up-for-our-newsletters Connect with us: @YACVic on IG, FB & Twitter