Empowering Young Leaders
We maximise opportunities for ‘middle years young people’ (aged 8-14) so they can thrive.
Mission
We’re mobilising a coalition of informed and skilled Changemakers to build inclusive, strong, and smart communities where middle years young people have opportunities to feel heard, valued, and supported to belong. We’re establishing place-based processes to ensure middle years young people are empowered, and that their voices shape the systems that support them to thrive.
Vision
Together, we are ensuring the conditions for communities to deeply listen to, value and act with purpose to support and empower middle years young people to thrive.
why the middle years?
The age-group 8-14 years is widely known to be overlooked in policy and service provision. This is despite representing a time of significant transition, both physically, socially, and in terms of access to services (ie. moving from family to youth-based services, and from primary to secondary school).
It is also one of the largest growing cohorts in the Western Sydney region.
The marginalisation of this cohort undermines the important investment in the early years (0-8 years), and exacerbates issues experienced later in young people’s lives during adolescence and early adulthood. We also know that this age-group wants to be listened to, and have important insights into what they need to thrive.
Meet Our Team
Brooke Hardy
Project Coordinator
Brooke is a community development specialist with a strong background in collective impact, engagement, and co-design. She brings expertise in project management, capacity building, and evaluation.
Brooke is passionate about empowering communities through inclusive, supportive, and culturally safe approaches.
Amie Robertson
Strategy and Partnerships Coordinator - Campbelltown
Amie Robertson is a trained youth worker with over 20 years of experience in the youth work space, spanning community engagement, program development, education, and youth advocacy. She brings strong skills in building meaningful connections and supporting young people across the Campbelltown region.
Jodie Mitchell
Strategy and Partnerships Coordinator - Penrith
Jodie is passionate about community impact, empowering young people to thrive in life and work. With experience spanning community impact, social enterprise, entrepreneurial education, and STEM learning, she designs collective programs and partnerships that spark opportunities and develop employability skills. She brings expertise in creating opportunities that support middle years young people across the Penrith region to elevate their life aspirations.
Who’s behind this work?
A significant philanthropic organisation has provided sufficient funding to ensure this Initiative until the end of 2027. At their invitation, three organisations partnered to commence this initiative:
Uniting NSW.ACT
Uniting NSW.ACT is one of Australia’s largest and most respected not for profit organisations, with a vision to disrupt entrenched disadvantage.
They provide services for every stage including a strong service footprint to children youth and families across Greater Western Sydney. https://www.uniting.org/home
The Stronger Smarter Institute
The Stronger Smarter Institute is a leading First Nations specialist education organisation that has introduced over 14,000 principals, teachers, parents, and community leaders to the ‘Strong and Smart’ approach to improve the educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and beyond them, all Australian school children. https://strongersmarter.com.au/
ARACY
ARACY champions the best policies and practices to help children and young people thrive.
As a leading health promotion charity, we use evidence and work in partnerships to influence systems to transform the wellbeing of every child.
Central to our work is The Nest, Australia’s first, evidence-based wellbeing framework for children and young people developed by ARACY in 2014 https://www.aracy.org.au/
The circle of active Changemakers in this work is growing. Several schools and community organisations influential in the lives of middle years young people have since joined us.
How you can be involved?
Become a partner
If you are passionate about making a difference in the lives of middle years young people, you can connect with us. Whether you have links to middle years young people in Campbelltown or Penrith, know people influential in their lives, or want to advocate for stronger investments in this age group, we’d love to hear from you. Share your interest so we can reach out with opportunities in the future.
Embed our research in your work
The ARACY research project gave voice to middle years young people and explored their needs and strengths. From their sense of belonging to their health and learning, we heard from middle years young people about what matters most to them, and what needs to change so that they can thrive. Our insights can support you to embed best practice and the voices of middle years young people into your service and programs.
Support Our Work
You can also support our vision by:
Providing feedback or expertise
Join our Advisory Committee to help inform projects that support middle years young people.
Investing or partnering
Collaborate with us as funders or corporate partners to help grow and sustain the Maximising the Middle Initiative.
Stay connected
Keep in touch with us so you can hear about future opportunities to get involved, from new initiatives to upcoming research.
Join our mailing list
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