Pay it forward to the next generation
Have a meaningful influence on the lives of young people. Young Change Agents runs a wide range of programs for youth and educators at over 1500 schools across Australia, and you’re invited to be a part of them.
We empower students to see problems as opportunities – from starting a digital social enterprise, to creating a social impact product with $20 seed funding and tackling climate change as a sustainability consultant at their school.
If your mission aligns with ours, we’d love to work with you. Apply for our ‘Giveback’ volunteer team to become a supporter – whether as an individual or as a partner organisation, and donate your time and skills toward amplifying our impact in Australia, and beyond.
Why volunteer with us?
The ‘Giveback’ team name is inspired by the most common phrase that our volunteers use to describe their experience with us. Our desire to pass along our entrepreneurial knowledge to young people is what brings us all together.
Below are what we believe to be a few of the biggest personal and professional highlights that go hand in hand with taking on a YCA volunteering role.
Make a meaningful impact
Use your skills to open pathways for young people that they never knew possible.
Connect with other change-makers
Join a collective of likeminded impact leaders and learners around Australia.
Build a purpose-driven career
Earn points toward digital LinkedIn badges, access resources and training around social entrepreneurship, & more.
What YCA programs can you get involved in?
We run programs spanning a wide range of good causes – from digital literacy, to sustainability and First Nations community empowerment. Further info about each of these below.
Digital Boss
Support students as they create & run a digital social enterprise, gain real world customers and iterate over 6-12 months.
$20 Boss
Empower youth to start their first impact business with $20 and budget, trade, make a profit, and return the funds plus a $1 legacy fee.
PlanetA. Schools
Uplift young people who tackle an environmental issue, and develop and run their own social enterprise consultancy at their school.
Lighting the Spark
Work with a local leaders "train-the-trainer" model to empower and uplift First Nations communities.
Entrepreneurial Educators Exchange (E3) Community
Help educators to develop their skills in entrepreneurial education and design thinking, and teach these concepts to their students.
Our volunteering roles
We have plenty of youth-facing volunteering opportunities available, along with the option to support hundreds of students by coaching educators, and to work directly with our team as we drive the systems change required to scale YCA’s impact.
- Expert In Residence: Shape the direction of a program alongside the YCA team
- School Coach: Train educators to teach students about social entrepreneurship
- Youth Mentor: Provide guidance to a youth team around a specific topic
- Guest Speaker: Run masterclasses for youth or educators
- Pitch Judge: Provide students with pitch advice at national challenges
- Team Advisor: Lend your skills to the YCA team, and help us increase our impact
How to get started
We work with both individuals and organisations who would like to to empower young people to create a brighter future.
To contribute toward any of Young Change Agent’s programs as an individual, head over here to share a bit more about your skills, availability, and where you see yourself making the most difference. We’ll take a look at your application, and will reach out if a volunteer opportunity comes up that aligns with your background and skillset.
If your organisation would like to be an active part of YCA’s mission, shoot an email to hello@youngchangeagents.com to find out what it could look like to partner with us to create change.
Meet a few of our supporters
Below are some of the many volunteers who generously donate their time and skills to Young Change Agents’ programs. They represent a diverse range of organisations and communities that support entrepreneurial education and youth entrepreneurship.
Lyndal Hamwood
Founder, (idea)ate Studio
Paul Redfern
COO, Big Picture Medical
Kylie Little
Director – Climate Tech Lead, KPMG
Dickie Currer
Founder, Hyper Man Media
Visakhan Vythilingham
Investment Analyst, Vision Super
Mariam Mohammed
Co-Founder, MoneyGirl
Maka Kama
Chief Purpose Officer, Alliance Community Group
Sibilla Foxton
General Manager - People and Projects, Sustain: The Australian Food Network
Hayden Smith
Co-Founder, Pearler Investments
Sarah O'Leary
Program Coordinator, Brisbane City Council
Ruy Rodriguez
Portfolio Director, Macquarie Group
Melissa Pye
Associate Director – Innovation Programs, Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport
Julia Leong
Product Manager, Hyper
John Lee
Group Manager – Strategy and Corporate Development, John Holland
Erlene Graanoogst
Executive General Manager - Operational Excellence, Australian Financial Complaints Authority
Emma Stevens
Country Director – Australia & New Zealand, Basque Trade & Investment
Daniel Dummer
Public Engagement Coordinator, US Department of State
Caitlin Boucher
Grant and Proposal Writer, Angharad Consulting
Aaron Fraser
Co-Founder, Grapevine
Leila Alem
Chief Innovation Officer, ArcSense
Sam Benjamin
Founder and Managing Director-Seventh St Ventures
Annette Ruhotas
Deputy President -
Red Cross
Gabbi Stubbs
APAC Strategy and Product - Adobe
Stewart Hay
Co-founder and Managing Director -
Intopia
Ryan Stuart
CEO & Founder - Kapiche
Nitesh Raj Pant
PCYC Queensland Program Coordinator
Becks Simpson
Machine Learning Lead- AlleyCorp Nord
Kris Spann
Social Procurement Advisor -Social Traders
Ale Wiecek
Founder and Chief Empathy Officer -
Sqr One
John Cook
Chief Digital Wizard - Computers Untangled
Tracy McLeod Howe
Senior Executive Leader - Diocese of Parramatta
Stephen Grant
Director - The iHelp Small Businesses Centre
Sam Hames
Research Fellow (Computational Humanities) - University of Queensland
Kaleb Roberts
Sales Enablement Lead - Localsearch
Naomi Jackson
Commercial (Sales and PD) Director ANZ - ARYZTA Australia & New Zealand
Michelle Ryan
Manager - Central Queensland Finance
Sarah McCosker
Regional Impact Manager - Regional Australia Institute (RAI)
Matthew Doyle
Founder and CEO Type - One Technologies
Kathleen Donohoe
Director Schools Policy (Education for a Changing World) - KPMG
Leonie Nahhas
Provisional Psychologist - NSW DET Department of Education and Training
Anne-Marie Elias
Co-Founder - PrimeLife Partners
Margaret Cheng
Parliamentary Business and Senior Policy Advisor - Dai Le, MP - Independent Federal Member for Fowler
Jay Booklin
Collaboration Manager -
Social Impact Hub
Tim Prosser
Project Lead / Consultant, Sustainability Innovation & Digital Transformation - Solving Problems That Matter
Tony Burns
CEO - Helping People Achieve
Kayla Medica
Fractional Product Manager/CMO - Mehdeeka
Katrina Fong Lim
Kids Support Coordinator - Variety: the Children's Charity NT
Irene Ryan
Executive - CareVision
Amy Hetherington
Director / Owner - Amiable Communications
Anushka Mudholkar
Developer - Atlassian
Bridget Armstrong
Principal Consultant - Art of Change
Debi Lloyd
Senior Director, Solutions Engineering (former) - Salesforce
Jet Volkering
Senior Product Manager, Growth - Atlassian
Megan Petersen
Director, Trailblazer Engagement - Salesforce
Tanya Tychshenko
Principal Data Engineer Atlassian
Vito Carrozzo
Administration Officer
NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation