Inspiration can come in all shapes and forms.

And for a group of Moree Secondary College students, there was no better platform to listen to inspiring stories from a diverse group of keynote speakers than the Youth Leadership Conference at the International Convention Centre in Sydney’s Darling Harbour last term.

Moree Secondary College’s Year 12 youth leadership team – Carlo Jaluague, Jaxon Budiada, Jacob Young, Jasper van’t Spyker, Emelia Dyer, Ruby Humphries and Talara Munro – joined teachers Jodie Litchfield and Flynn Matthews and 10,000 other students from across Australia to be inspired.

“We wanted our Year 12 leadership team to experience the conference in Sydney, to equip them with greater leadership skills, foster self-awareness, and provide experiential learning opportunities,” Mrs Litchfield said.

“The conference was a great opportunity to build their confidence and capability to lead themselves, their schools and our communities.”

Speakers included OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn, 2023 NSW Young Australian of the Year and founder of ID. Know Yourself Isaiah Dawe, founder of The Daily Aus Zara Seidler and Will Massara, founder of the Youth Leadership Academy, which hosted the conference.

ID. Know Yourself is an Aboriginal not-for-profit mentoring organisation supporting Aboriginal children, aged 7 to 16 who are in out-of-home care in Greater Sydney.

OzHarvest collects surplus food from commercial outlets and delivers it to charities supporting people in need.

The Daily Aus is a media company targeting young Australians – “a newsroom of young journalists, delivering news for young people”.

(from left) Talara Munro, Jasper van’t Spyker, Carlo Jaluague, Jaxon Budiada, Jacob Young, Ruby Humphries, Emelia Dyer at the Youth Leadership Conference in March.

Youth Leadership Academy Australia, founded seven years ago by then 15-year-old Will Massara, is a youth-led, not-for-profit organisation that gears young people with essential skills ‍through in-person events, school-based programs and partnerships with government agencies.

Moree Secondary College Senior Student Leader, Jaxon Budiada, said the conference was the ideal platform to develop new skills to help make a positive impact as a student leader.

“During the conference I learned about all the different qualities of leaders and the key point that resonated with me the most, is to take action,” Jaxon said.

“Ronni Kahn, from OzHarvest, was very inspiring and the teaspoon analogy – small actions can make a big difference in tackling large problems – has stuck with me heavily.”

Student Leadership Council member, Jasper van’t Spyker, echoed Jaxon’s take on the Youth Leadership Conference.

“I really enjoyed going to Sydney for the conference,” Jasper said.

“I wanted to attend to get to see some of the cohort of Sydney students and to learn more with the other leaders of Moree Secondary College.

“I was really interested in the point of being able to achieve my goals by never giving up, and going through with my ideas, despite negative feedback,” he said.

Mrs Litchfield said the two-day, fly-in-fly-out excursion was also an opportunity for students to get a feel of life in the city.

“The trip was also about students experiencing the city,” she said.

“We caught the train, light rail, and explored Sydney. We also got a little more than we bargained for when we got caught up in train delays and missed our flight home,” she smiled.

The group returned home, albeit a day late, with a wealth of knowledge and understanding.

“I am very proud of these young people and how they conducted themselves, and their enthusiasm and attitudes are to be commended,” Mrs Litchfield said.