We’ve recruited our first Board and we can’t wait for you to meet them!

We’re proud as punch to unveil our new Board – an exceptional and diverse group of people from across Australia who are committed to systems change and backing young people. A truly intergenerational partnership, the Board embeds representation of young voices, with a young Co-Chair and dedicated positions for young Board Members.

This outstanding group of people are committed to guiding us through the next phase of our transition and growth as an independent organisation. None of this would have been possible without the backing of FYA, whose incubation and support has been key to building our foundations and setting ourselves up as a social enterprise.

We received over 140 applications of incredible calibre and are privileged to announce the following appointments:

Leilani Darwin, Co-Chair (she/her) - QLD

Leilani is a proud Nunukul Quandamooka woman, and the Owner and Founder of First Nations Co, a community-led Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consulting business. She is well known for her leadership in suicide prevention and mental health, and has extensive experience with co-design and lived experience consulting. In addition to our board, Leilani is the current Chair of 13YARN, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre with Black Dog Institute, and a Director on the boards of Mind Australia and One Door.

Shailja Sharma, Co-Chair (she/her) - VIC

Shailja is a young Australian of Fiji-Indian descent who is passionate about engaging young people on an intersectional level to create accessible and equitable systems. She works at the intersection of health and economic development in public policy. She has previously acted in youth advisory roles at the Victorian Electoral Commission and the Centre for Multicultural Youth.

Lloyd Alderman, Treasurer (he/him) - VIC

Lloyd is determined to grow the net benefit of the world and brings over 14 years of experience within finance and governance roles, 8 of which are within youth-focused organisations and not-for-profits. He is the current Finance Manager at Orygen and has previously worked as an Accountant for KPMG and Teletrac Navman, as well as the CFO of Oaktree. In addition to our board, Lloyd has also acted as a Director at Oaktree and Useful Inc.

James Hall, Young Board Member/Secretary (he/him) - NSW

James has a passion for building inclusive, fair and self-determining communities and working within research, policy and law reform. He is finishing up his role as a Policy and Parliamentary Advisor to the Office of Senator Mehreen Faruqi before starting his new position as a Senior Advisor at ACOSS. James has previously worked as a Strategy Associate at the Paul Ramsay Foundation and founded a pro-bono research service that co-designed and delivered over 50+ research papers within its first two years.

Ikram Mahamed, Young Board Member (she/her) - VIC

Ikram is a young Somali-Australian working within the not-for-profit, media, and youth engagement spaces. She currently works as a Project Officer at the Centre for Multicultural Youth to facilitate workshops and training sessions, Youth Development and Support Officer at Melton City Council and acts as a Subcommittee member for The Y. Ikram is a Founder of The Beginning Project, a resource bank for young people by young people, and has previously been a Producer for the ABC.

Telaine Cowdrey, Board Member (she/her) - VIC

Telaine is a proud First Nations woman who specialises in engaging the most hard-to-reach communities and adult learning environments, and creating impact through engaging in vulnerable conversations. Telaine has just started a role as the Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Advisor to the CEO of The Fred Hollows Foundation, and has previously spent 13+ years across various leadership roles at the REACH Foundation across community engagement, workshop facilitation, strategy, learning and development, and wellbeing support.

Kevin Kapeke, Board Member (he/him) - VIC

Kevin specialises in driving positive outcomes for diverse young people by marrying evidence-based research with lived experiences. He is currently the Social Connection and Mental Wellbeing Lead at VicHealth where he focuses on building the capacity of youth-centric initiatives and the role of arts and health in communities. Kevin is also an Advisor at the Centre for Multicultural Youth's Youth-led Unit, the Chair of IPAA Victoria's African Australian Community of Practice and a Board Director at The Y Victoria.

Elanor Huntington, Board Member (she/her) - ACT

Elanor is a technology-forward executive with over 15+ years of leadership experience creating strategic, operational and business plans to deliver impact across government, academia, industry and the community. She is currently an Executive Director at the CSIRO where she leads the enterprise-wide research and development of their digital capability, was previously the Dean and a Professor at the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science and created Australia's first academic Indigenous engineering design studio. Elanor brings a wealth of governance expertise, having been a foundation Director at Significant Ventures and other for-purpose boards.

Ernez Dhondy, Board Member (he/him) - VIC

Ernez is a first-generation immigrant from Mumbai and has over 15+ years of agency and consultancy experience. He is currently the General Manager of Client Services at Paper Giant where he delivers innovative programs for government, commercial and not-for-profit organisations in the pursuit of the common good. Ernez acts as a Committee Member at The Lighthouse Foundation, and has previously worked as an Experience Design Director at CHE Proximity and User Experience Lead at Precedent.

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Our new Board represents an important step in the transition to our own organisation. We can’t wait to see what we achieve together!