Youth Forum Program

May 2023

Program for the 2023 Wiyi Yani U Thangani National Summit's Youth Forum, hosting over 100 young First Nations women and gender-diverse peoples.

The Wiyi Yani U Thangani National Summit in 2023 was the first of its kind in Australia to bring First Nations women together (cis and trans women, and non-binary and gender diverse people) into an arena of decision-making with a diverse range of private and public stakeholders. Having a youth forum prior to the Summit was important to ensure youth have a voice and are empowered to fully participate at the Summit. Our young people are valuable agents of change and are key to championing innovative solutions to accelerate action towards gender equality.

The Wiyi Yani U Thangani Youth Forum was a safe space for youth to collaborate prior to the National Summit, to bring their solutions, recommendations, and initiatives towards a sustainable future. This platform is an opportunity to share ideas, network and to hear from some inspiring young leaders who will showcase their work and leadership journeys.

This program shares the details of how the Youth Forum took place.

Photography by Jillian Mundy

Institute Updates

Spending time with our Ways of Working

Come on the Journey to designing a First Nations gender justice workplace with us! As an Institute, we strive to embody First Nations gender justice principles in our workplace culture, employment conditions, policies and practices. As we develop this approach, we hope to be able to support other individuals, groups and organisations to become safe, non-discriminatory, inclusive, creative and meaningful working environments which enhance wellbeing and drive change. The way in which we are constructing this model at the Institute is by embedding into our work process, and embodying in our actions, our Ways of Working, Measurement, Evaluation and Learning approach and systems change practices.

The Ways of Working outlined in our Change Agenda are more than principles—they are living practices that guide how we foster connection, respect, and transformative action. These practices are grounded in the ancestral knowledge, cultural protocols, and lived experiences of First Nations women, girls, and gender-diverse peoples.

Impact Opportunties

We are highlighting opportunities across Australia for First Nations women, girls and gender-diverse mob to engage a variety of opportunities to amplify their voices. If you know of more opportunities available, please share them with us so we can highlight them in our next newsletter. You can also find opportunities posts on our Instagram and LinkedIn.

Please note: These opportunities are not affiliated with the Institute. We are highlighting them in an independent capacity.