What happens when young people are given the tools, confidence and opportunities to make their voices heard?

And what if the problem isn't that young people aren't interested in democracy or social change, but that the systems and opportunities around them aren't designed to include them?

In this episode of The Spark Changemakers Podcast, Nikki travels virtually to Australia to meet Joelle Sassine and Afsana Kazi, two inspiring young changemakers working to ensure that young people, particularly those from underrepresented communities, have the opportunity to influence the decisions that affect their lives.

Joelle is an early-career academic, youth participation practitioner and creative civics facilitator working across research, civic engagement and community-based projects at Western Sydney University. Afsana is a research assistant with Using Our Voices at the Whitlam Institute, passionate about championing young people whose perspectives and experiences are too often overlooked.

Together, they explore the barriers that prevent young people from participating meaningfully in democracy, and how creativity, connection and practical opportunities can help overcome them.

Through their work on Using Our Voices, Joelle and Afsana are helping young people in Western Sydney understand how to engage with decision-makers, advocate for the issues that matter to them and turn everyday frustrations into opportunities for positive change.

But this conversation goes far beyond political participation. It's also about self-belief, identity, belonging and the power of supporting one another, and what happens when young people begin to realise that their voices really do matter.

In this conversation, you'll hear about:

🗣️ Why young people aren't necessarily disengaged from democracy – but often excluded from meaningful participation

🌍 How background, identity and structural inequalities can influence whose voices are heard and valued

🎨 Why creative, practical approaches to civic education can help young people turn their concerns into action

💡 The powerful 'aha moments' when young people realise they can genuinely influence decisions

🤝 Why connection, encouragement and collective support are so important in building confidence and self-belief

🌱 How empowering one young person can create a ripple effect throughout their community

👥 Why we need to move from 'me' to 'we' and recognise the power of collective changemaking

📱 The complexities of Australia's social media restrictions for under-16s – and why young people's perspectives need to be part of the conversation

Joelle and Afsana also share their own experiences of growing up in diverse communities in Western Sydney, where they witnessed the ways that young people's ideas and contributions could be overlooked because of their background or circumstances. Their experiences have shaped a shared commitment to creating opportunities where every young person can recognise their own worth, develop their confidence and feel empowered to contribute.

Connect with Joelle & Afsana

• Learn more about the Using Our Voices project through the Whitlam Institute at Western Sydney University: https://www.whitlam.org/civics-education
• Connect with Joelle Sassine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelle-sassine-207946218/
• Connect with Afsana Kazi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afsana-kazi-586a35350/

About The Spark Changemakers Podcast

The Spark Changemakers Podcast is for people who want to change the world, fuelled by passion and purpose. Through conversations with changemakers, thinkers and practitioners, we explore what it really takes to create meaningful change – in ourselves, our communities and the systems around us.

What if changing the world didn't have to start with a grand idea? What if sometimes it looked like putting the kettle on, sitting down on a sofa and having a conversation with another human being?

In this episode of The Spark Changemakers Podcast, Nikki talks to Maff Potts, founder of the Association of Camerados and author of Friends and Purpose: Stories from Sofas on Streets and Some Confounding Ideas for Tough Times, about the extraordinary power of ordinary human connection.

After spending 20 years working within traditional homelessness services and charities, Maff began to notice a pattern. The people who had friends, connection and a reason to get out of bed in the morning tended to do better.

Again and again, he saw that behind incredibly complex problems were people who were isolated, disconnected and often being treated as problems to be fixed rather than human beings who needed other human beings alongside them.

Eventually, that realisation became Camerados – a social movement that began in Maff's bedroom in 2015 and has since spread around the world. At the heart of the movement are Public Living Rooms: welcoming, no-agenda spaces where anyone can sit down, have a cuppa, chat, play a game or simply spend some time alongside other people.

Together, Nikki and Maff explore why something so simple can also be so profound – and what our institutions, services, schools and communities might learn from it.

In this conversation, you'll hear about:

☕ Why sometimes putting the kettle on can be more powerful than trying to fix someone's life

🛋️ How Public Living Rooms create spaces where people can simply be human

🤝 Why Camerados is built on mutuality and solidarity rather than charity

👥 Why we need more relationships somewhere between stranger and friend – people who may not know us deeply, but who nevertheless have our back

🌍 Why community might be one of the most important things we've forgotten in an increasingly individualised world

🌱 Why changemaking can be microscopic – and small interactions can create ripples far beyond what we ever see

✈️ How making just one degree of difference can eventually take us somewhere completely different

Connect with Maff & Camerados

• Find out more about Camerados and how to start a Public Living Room through the Association of Camerados: https://camerados.org
• Follow Camerardos on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camerados_org/
• Connect with Maff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maff-potts-4044b915/
• Buy the Friends and Purpose book: https://www.wallingfordbookshop.co.uk/product-page/friends-and-purpose-maff-potts

In this episode of The Spark Changemakers Podcast, Nikki talks to Rae Baker, founder of Think Team, about how we move beyond collaboration in theory and start putting it into practice.

Rae is an experienced coach, facilitator and consultant with more than a decade of experience in engagement, partnership working and collaboration across the public sector.

Having worked within local government, health and other public bodies in Wales, Rae founded Think Team to help organisations do the work they're already doing in more collaborative, integrated and human ways.

Together, Nikki and Rae explore why genuine partnership working is often much harder than it sounds. They explore why investing time in relationships at the beginning can create stronger partnerships in the long term, and why simply putting people in the same room and calling it partnership working isn't enough.

In this conversation, you'll hear about:

🤝 Why being around the same table doesn't automatically mean we're working in partnership

🧱 Why trust and relationships are the foundations of meaningful collaboration

💬 How to move beyond engagement as a series of standalone conversations towards ongoing relationships

👥 Why one person can never be expected to represent the views of an entire community

🌱 Moving from doing things to people, towards doing with and alongside them

🧠 Why public bodies need to recognise that they don't hold all the knowledge

🏛️ How Wales is creating the legislative conditions for more collaborative approaches to public service

🔄 Why collaboration requires a wider culture shift, not simply another engagement process

Connect with Rae

Visit the ThinkTeam Website: www.thinkteam.co.uk

Connect with Rae on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rae-baker/

Follow ThinkTeam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thinkteamltd/

About The Spark Changemakers Podcast

The Spark Changemakers Podcast is for people who want to change the world, fuelled by passion and purpose. Through conversations with changemakers, thinkers and practitioners, we explore what it really takes to create meaningful change – in ourselves, our communities and the systems around us.