MEET OUR NATIONAL YOUTH COLLECTIVE
PROJECT ROCKIT’s NATIONAL YOUTH COLLECTIVE is represented by 32 diverse young people from across Australia.
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NATIONAL YOUTH COLLECTIVE
PROJECT ROCKIT’s NATIONAL YOUTH COLLECTIVE is represented by 32 diverse young people from across Australia. Aged 12 to 21 years, they act as advocates, creators, advisors and collaborators on work and projects with PROJECT ROCKIT and our partners to help build a world where kindness and respect thrive.
The COLLECTIVE holds us all accountable to remaining youth-driven and ensures that we understand the complex and nuanced experiences of young people today. Their lived experiences help us to better influence and shape the systems that govern their lives.
HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT?
The COLLECTIVE is the result of 18 years of exploring how to best offer agency to young people and for us to be accountable to them for the vision PROJECT ROCKIT has for the world. Our point of difference is:
Deeply relational: Members are not replaced annually. They are an ongoing part of the Collective.
Fluid membership: Members opt-in and out of activities and can organise their participation around other life priorities.
Diverse age range: Members average age is 15 years. With members aged 12 - 21 years.
Non-hierarchical: The Collective is committed to sharing power and decision making with all members.
Execution matters: How we say we work, is also how we work. We invest a lot of time in how we do things and ensuring our principles and practices are lived authentically.
OUR MODEL
The Core Members are a collection of 32 young people (aged 12-21 years) who take on different projects that help fulfill the vision and mission of PROJECT ROCKIT through different work.
CLIENT Project: A project from a PROJECT ROCKIT partner who are drawing on the Collective’s lived experience to produce work.
PROJECT ROCKIT Project: A project that is directly driven by the organisation’s key needs and supports the our work directly.
COLLECTIVE Project: A project that has been generated out of the Collective that they initiate and seek support for.
HOW WE WORK Project: A project that is about the policies, procedures and how the Collective evolves and works.
The COMMUNITY refers to the networks of our advisors and creators, but also to our COLLECTIVE NETWORK mailing list of 200+ young people, those who follow our social media accounts across Instagram and TikTok , and connect through face to face workshops and other events.
Meet our Designers
Our DESIGNERS are a collection of 16 young people (aged 12-19 years) who meet regularly, design projects and provide specific input and advice into all aspects of PROJECT ROCKIT’s work. They guide the COLLECTIVE and its work.
Ayush
Ayush, 15 (he/him) is passionate about navigating online safety. Ayush also says he is a tech nerd with too many hobbies and not enough time!
Caitlin
Caitlin, 18 (she/her) is passionate about equity for people with disability! Fun fact, Caitlin LOVES pineapple, and has subtle pineapple decorations everywhere!
Dominik
Dominik, 17 (he/him) is passionate about working on youth health prevention. Fun fact, Dominik went to school in 3 different countries and a number of languages.
Hansika
Hansika, 14 (she/her) is passionate about improving education and breaking stigma around mental health and self harm. Fun fact, Hansika enjoys running and drawing!
Jolie
Jolie, 14 (she/her) is passionate about tackling bullying. Jolie also loves to play guitar and is very passionate about music!
Joshua
Joshua, 16 (he/him) is passionate about improving education and life outcomes of disadvantaged youth. He experiments with environmentally-friendly energy sources (ask about the stalactites in his garage).
Konan
Konan, 18 (he/him) wants to empower young people and find solutions to climate change. Fun fact, Konan brushes his teeth before & after breakfast.
Lamisa
Lamisa, 19 (she/her) is passionate about bringing awareness to disability and racial discrimination within our wider society. Lamisa enjoys baking deserts (usually as a way of procrastinating!)
Mannon
Mannon, 15 (he/him) is passionate about tackling bullying, and loves connecting and working with people.
Michael
Michael, 19 (he/him) is passionate about ethical issues, such as gene screening and human rights. Michael loves learning how the things around him work.
Maxine
Maxine, 13 (she/her) is passionate about challenging the lack of representation of youth in government. Fun fact, Maxine plays field hockey!
Noa
Noa, 15 (she/her) is passionate about human rights (especially gender equity and immigration). Noa loves the cereal milk wayyyy more than the actual cereal.
Olivia
Olivia, 17 (she/her) cares deeply about disability advocacy, education reform, LGBTQIA+ equality, and religious tolerance and harmony. Above all, Olivia LOVES to read and write, and also bakes, debates, does archery and karate, and plays D&D.
Taihan
Taihan, 15 (he/him) is passionate about equitable education for young people and loves both playing and watching soccer!
Theo
Theo, 15 (she/they) is passionate about youth prevention work, and has memorised the 50 states of America and the 13 territories/provinces of Canada for fun!
Rhea
Rhea, 18 (she/her) is passionate about youth civic engagement, climate justice and disability justice. Rhea also loves to play tennis.
“We have a horizontal hierarchical structure, which gives us as young people a lot of autonomy around what we get to do and how we interact with the various projects.”
- Rhea, Collective Member, 19
Meet our Creators
Our CREATORS are a cohort of 16 young people who are trained to develop content and come together to engage around specific topics and work on client projects requiring deeper participatory approaches.
Anju
Anju, 17 (she/her) is passionate about South Asian representation in TV shows, refugee rights, and finding the perfect iced matcha latte. For Anju, Airports are her happy place.
Chloe
Chloe, 13 (she/her) is passionate about equality and fairness. Fun fact, Chloe has been dancing for 8 years now!
Darcey
Darcey, 13 (she/they) is passionate about challenging bullying. Darcey also plays hockey and loves acting. Fun fact, she also I can make their eyeballs quiver!
Dhishana
Dhishana, 16 (she/her) is passionate about LGBTQ+ equality and student voice in schools. Dhishana also loves making her own clothes and creating miniatures!
Emily
Emily, 14 (she/her) is passionate about challenging sexism. Fun fact, Emily plays ukulele, guitar, trombone and french horn!
Franklin
Franklin, 14 (he/him) is passionate about Indigenous Rights, and plays Lacrosse.
Harrison
Harrison, 13 (he/him) is passionate about tackling cyberbullying. Fun fact, Harrison can also swim in the ocean during winter without a wetsuit!
Jem
Jem, 12 (he/him)
Marlene
Marlene, 18 (she/her) is passionate about free press and media representation. Marlene believes Sunday nights are for wallowing, and there is no better way to do this than a movie and tea in hand!
Mehela
Mehela, 14 (she/her) is passionate about book censorship. Mehela says she can never decide what to read so she ends up reading three books at once!
Mia
Mia, 17 (she/her) is passionate about challenging bullying for all ages. She also enjoys playing netball and staying fit.
Mo
Mo, 14 (they/them) is passionate about children’s right to autonomy. Mo's special interest is fanfiction.
Nicholas
Nicholas, 12 (he/him) is passionate about challenging bullying - bullying of others for being more different. He loves playing basketball.
Oscar
Oscar, 15 (he/him) is passionate about global warming, and likes to go mountain biking.
Raheela
Raheela, 17 (she/her) is passionate about body positivity, self-empowerment and mental health advocacy for young people. Raheela lives and breathes iced coffee <3
Victoria
Victoria, 16 (she/her) is passionate about body image and gender inequality. Fun fact - Victoria is a part time Barista! She can do latte art too (although, her hearts sometimes end up looking like butts.)
“We're in this together. We're trying to build something together. It means you are so much more willing to talk, even if you don't really like to talk. I'm very shy, but here it just feels safe to talk and share my thoughts because everyone here is just happy to be here.”
- Noa, Collective Member, 15
Interested in joining our movement?
The Collective operates under a fluid membership model, meaning members opt-in and out of activities and can organise their participation around other life priorities (because young people are busy!) Sign up to be part of the Collective Network.
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