Victorian Young Leaders: Global Youth Forums

Ahmed Hassan

Dedicated, hardworking and fearless, Ahmed Hassan has a clear vision on how to best assist and advocate for disadvantaged young people from multicultural backgrounds. He possesses an innate ability to relate and connect, passing on critical life skills around education, employment, health and wellbeing.

In 2014, at the age of 18, Ahmed co-founded Youth Activating Youth. Born in the northern suburbs of Melbourne to parents from Somalia and Eritrea, Ahmed is driven by a desire to form social cohesion, bridge cultural divides and achieve the best outcomes for young people from multicultural backgrounds across Victoria.

Youth Activating Youth offers support to marginalised and disadvantaged young people – particularly those who consistently fall through the cracks. It provides them with the essential skills needed to build self-confidence and self-sufficiency. Originally a youth-led committee, Youth Activating Youth has grown into an established not-for-profit organisation with a committed team and a diverse and multidisciplinary board.

Ahmed is a Director on the Board of the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation. Recently, Ahmed has been award 2022 Victorian Young Australian of the Year.

Sizol Fuyana

Sizol Fuyana is supporting disadvantaged young people and empowering others. After overcoming her own adversities, Sizol founded Fuyana Support, a youth-oriented consultancy firm that provides social and emotional wellbeing to young people through building connections. She has successfully rolled out programs across the territory and designed mentorship programs to support young people coming out of the justice system. Sizol visits schools, youth centres and shares her story at events. She also started a podcast that empowers others through discussions of how to face adversity and build resilience. Sizol was Chair of the 2021 NT Youth Round Table, helped launch the NT Education Engagement Strategy and sat on the Expert Advisory Panel. She currently studies Law and Psychology at Charles Darwin University and was named the 2022 NT Young Australian of the Year. 

Ruby Bourke, Ride2School Coordinator 

Ruby is a Green School Bali graduate, conscious consumption advocate, passionate environmental activist, and student voice representative.

Over the years, she has experienced the realities of social and environmental destruction across Indonesia and the world, working with activists from around the globe to bring stories and solutions to the climate crisis, sharing these ideas in Bali, Australia and on established global stages.

In 2018, this impressive young Australian delivered a TedX talk entitled Finding connection through minimalism and zero-waste. Delivered with passion, in this insightful talk, Ruby disseminates the mindset behind a circular economy and calls for more mindfulness about the lives we live and the broader systems we contribute to. Watch the full video here.

Ruby has also attended the United Nations Conference of Parties and been a key student representative advisory group member on the OECD’s E2030 Learning Framework Project, where she represented student voices in education reform discussion with diverse governments, educators, policymakers, and students.

She is now working in the NFP space to educate youth on sustainable transport and improve cycling infrastructure across Victoria.

Jahin Tanvir

Jahin Tanvir is a 20-year-old policy adviser, speaker, writer, and multicultural youth advocate. As a young media spokesperson trained by the Economic Media Centre, Jahin is a regular contributor providing media comments on multicultural people’s experiences in Australian communities.

Jahin possesses a strong background in youth leadership and advocacy in leading youth-led organisations such as Oaktree, World Vision, Red Cross and the United Nations to name a few. Being a first-generation migrant hailing from Bangladesh, Jahin works to elevate the voices of young migrants and communities.

He has represented Australia on the global stage and in various conferences and forums with highlights including guest speaker at the Australasian Aid conference at the Australian National University and as an Australian delegate at the Global Model United Nations in Rome.

As a result of his work in youth leadership, Jahin was awarded the ‘New and Emerging community leader’ scholarship, ‘Service to others’ award by the Parliament of Australia, ‘Young Changemaker award’ and in 2021 Jahin was awarded  Young Canberra Citizen of the Year in Individual Community Service.