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 Young Leaders of Today: Multicultural Leadership Training
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What is Young Leaders of Today?
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Rationale and Aims of the Program
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Young Leaders of Today program outline
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How to get involved
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Contact Young Leaders of Today
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What is Young Leaders of Today?
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CMY receives funding from the Victorian Office for Youth to run Young Leaders of Today, a week-long Statewide Multicultural Leadership Course, run in partnership with the Australian Red Cross, Victoria.
The program aims to provide young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds in year 10 with the opportunity to gain leadership skills and confidence, and to enhance their participation in community life.
The program also has the capacity to deliver leadership trainings with CLD young people through community groups on a more informal basis.
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Rationale and Aims of the Program
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CMY aims to promote social harmony through inclusiveness and the provision of real choices and opportunities for young people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This program was developed out of a recognition that migrant and refugee young people endure a range of experiences that place them at a distinct disadvantage compared to other Victorian young people. This is particularly the case in relation to opportunities for young people to become leaders.
We have found that, within an environment that specifically caters for their needs and draws on their life experience, CLD young people flourish. Their skills, once developed, allow them to articulate their concerns about issues affecting their lives and therefore have a greater voice in the broader Australian community.
The training enhances participants’ self-development through the process of experiential learning, interaction with others and the achievement of set tasks.
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Aims of the program are to:
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- Provide a forum for young people to share experiences, learn skills and draw strength from one another.
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- Enhance young people’s experiential knowledge of the essential elements of leadership so that they are able to take on greater leadership roles.
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- Enhance young people’s development of a range of personal and social skills which enable them to achieve personal goals and address issues of concern to them.
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- Encourage young people to actively participate in processes of decision making in community life.
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- Educate participants about appropriate mechanisms in advocating for social change.
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- Promote a sense of belonging and trust in the school based, local, and wider communities with which young people identify.
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- Deliver leadership training to community groups working with CLD young people to strengthen skills, knowledge and confidence in young people across Victoria.
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Young Leaders of Today program outline
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Through the week-long training, participants are involved in activities that focus on:
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- Leadership and leadership styles
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- Issues effecting migrant young people
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- Group dynamics and facilitation
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Following the training program, the students meet with a worker from their local city council youth service to explore opportunities for leadership in their local community and to become familiar with local youth and council services.
CMY follows up with each school to assist in finding opportunities to utilise the skills of the leadership participants where relevant.
CMY also maintain contact with the young people regarding involvement in future policy forums and youth participation activities at both local and state levels.
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How to get involved
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We ask schools from targeted regions to select five students from year 10 to participate in the training. We target regions where there are high numbers of CLD young people and where CMY is often already working and delivering projects.
Some of the LGAs we work in include the Cities of Greater Dandenong, Casey, Brimbank, Maribrynong, Hume, Moreland and Whittlesea.
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Selection criteria for students from schools:
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- Students who are from newly-arrived refugee communities (such as those from Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Afghanistan, the Former Yugoslavia and East Timor) as well as students who have recently migrated to Australia (e.g. from Samoa, Iran, Vietnam, China, India, Turkey).
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- The young people need not be highly involved in the school at present or have previous leadership experience, however a mixture of more confident and less confident students who are willing to develop their skills is beneficial. Of the five students, please feel free to take a risk in selecting one student who you feel may benefit from the program. Young people can sometimes show a significant change after their involvement in the program.
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- Students need to have some verbal confidence with English however they do not need to be highly articulate. Very newly arrived students may find the training difficult. (Please discuss further with YLOT training coordinator.)
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- All young people need to keen to participate voluntarily and benefit from this opportunity.
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Selection criteria for young people from community groups:
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- Young people aged 16-25 years old from newly-arrived refugee communities (such as from Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Afghanistan, the Former Yugoslavia and East Timor) or who have recently migrated to Australia (e.g. from Samoa, Iran, Vietnam, China, India, Turkey) and where possible are students.
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- CLD young people who are involved in a community agency or group and are wanting to develop leadership skills.
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Contact Young Leaders of Today
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For more information about Young Leaders of Today, or if your City Council or school would like to participate in the future, please contact:
Rachel Murray
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Project Worker
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Tel (03) 9340 3700
Email rmurray@cmy.net.au
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