CHAIR 
Mr Alan Huynh (QLD)

Alan Huynh has demonstrated a passionate commitment towards enhancing youth engagement and participation for over 10 years.  He is the past Youth Chair of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia and the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland – the national and state peak bodies representing Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. In these voluntary roles, Alan led advocacy efforts on behalf of young Australians from CALD backgrounds. He currently serves on the community advisory council of the Special Broadcasting Service, Australia’s multicultural broadcaster.

In 2008, he led a team of 15 volunteers to create an award winning, socially innovative youth leadership initiative, the ‘Partners in Peace’ project which provided a unique learning experience for young people from refugee backgrounds. In 2009, Alan represented young Australians at the 7th Commonwealth Youth Forum in Trinidad and Tobago as well as the 10th International Award Forum in Sydney. In 2006, he was selected as a youth representative on the 18th Ship for World Youth program – a global cultural exchange program.

For his work with young Australians, Alan was the inaugural recipient of the Australian Human Rights’ Commission Young Peoples’ Human Rights Medal, the 2008 Queensland Multicultural Award – Outstanding Young Achiever, the 2009 Brisbane Lord Mayor Young Citizen of the Year and UQ Vice Chancellor’s Diversity and Equity Award as well as the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. He is also a McGill Echenberg Human Rights Fellow.

 Mr Matthew Albert (VIC) –  Special Advisor

Matthew Albert is a barrister and has recently completed his Masters in International Refugee Law at Oxford University. Matthew is the co-founder of the Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning (SAIL) Program, a volunteer, non-profit, secular organisation that provides free English support and community services to the Sudanese refugee community in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, Australia. Matthew was awarded the Victorian Young Australian of the Year in 2005, as well as being named one of the ten Outstanding Young People of the World by the Junior Chamber International. Matthew was also selected by the Australian government to be Australia's Regional Youth Caucus (RYC) Representative in 2005 and continued in this role until 2008.  That year, Matthew was elected to the position of Pan-Commonwealth Youth Caucus Chairperson - the first ever Australian to be appointed to the role. In that capacity, Matthew chaired the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 and Uganda in 2007. He was centrally involved in drafting the communiqués that were presented to the 2007 and 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings. In 2009, Matthew became the first young person to address all Commonwealth Heads of Government, as well as being granted an audience with the Head of the Commonwealth, the Queen.

MEMBER
Ms Ellie Seckold (ACT)

Ellen ‘Ellie’ Seckold, has qualifications in community welfare and international social development. She is currently completing post-graduate studies in International Relations at Australian National University.  Ellie is the current Australian Regional Youth Caucus representative to the Commonwealth Youth Program.  This has further enabled her to contribute to youth development initiatives and youth policy across the Pacific and the Commonwealth, the most recent being the Commonwealth Youth Leaders conference in India, and the highlight being the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009. Ellie has worked for several years in Fiji in various roles as Social Leadership Training Team Leader with the Fiji Council of Social Services under the Australian Volunteers International program, and Community Liaison Officer with the Fiji Cancer Society under the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Program working primarily to develop programs to build capacity of communities and young people in urban and rural areas and strengthen the organisations' governance system. Ellie also sits on many youth committees and planning groups regionally. Her youth experience also extends to Perth and Canberra where her roles entailed re-engaging and supporting most-at-risk young people back into meaningful training, employment and/or education.

MEMBER
Ms Madeline Anderson (WA)

Madeline Anderson is an Aboriginal Support Officer with the Western Australian Department for Housing. Madeline was selected in 2010 to be a part of the WA Office for Youth’s Indigenous youth leadership program, One Sky Many Paths. Madeline is a Noongar woman with a strong connection to her Indigenous culture and is a powerful advocate for young Indigenous women in WA. Dedicating much time to her community and family, Madeline is a great role model for other Indigenous young people, volunteering her time to develop innovative local projects for her community to strengthen local families working closely with the Indigenous community and other important local partners.

MEMBER
Ms Elizabeth Cullen (QLD)

Elizabeth Cullen is currently the Queensland State Director of the Left Right
Think-Tank, Australia's first independent and non partisan public policy think-tank for young people. Elizabeth is currently completing a Bachelor of Law/ Arts at the University of Queensland. Elizabeth was significantly involved in the planning and development of the 2010 National Youth Week event “Our City. Our State. Our Future” forum in Brisbane, which was government funded.  She was also selected to participate in the 2010 Queensland Youth Forum, and, in June 2010, spoke about Youth Homelessness at The Brisbane Institute's panel event “Live Fast, Die Young?” She was recently a part of the Left Right Think-Tank team facilitating the Australian Youth-Led Convention in Canberra.

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MEMBER
Mr Reynato Reodica (NSW)

Reynato Reodica has been the Chief Executive of the NSW peak youth organisation, the Youth Action and Policy Association, since early 2007. He completed a Bachelor of Arts in Communication/Bachelor of Laws in 2006, having concurrently served on the NSW Ministerial Youth Advisory Council from 2004-2006. Reynato has been involved in youth development and advocacy for over a decade, working collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders towards positive social change for young people. This has included regular involvement in planning and delivering forums, conferences and events for young people throughout this period. Reynato has a demonstrated interest in international youth affairs - particularly the areas of fostering youth participation and children's rights and is a Board Director of both the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition and the National Children's and Youth Law Centre."

MEMBER
Ms Emma Moulds (SA)

Emma Moulds is a law and economics student from the University of Adelaide and has been involved in the youth sector through a variety of roles including Chair of the Minister’s Youth Council (2009-10) to advise the South Australian Minister for Youth, youth representative on the Community Engagement Board for the SA Strategic Plan (current). Emma was the Chair of the Gawler Youth Advisory Committee (2008-2009) advising the Town of Gawler Council, writer for Youth Affairs Council of South Australia and Vibewire Youth Services (2007) and Northern Rural Youth Ambassador (2007). In 2008, Emma was named the Gawler Young Citizen of the Year and in 2009, was awarded the Pricewaterhouse Coopers Award of Excellence. In 2008, Emma was a Director for the Asia-Pacific Model United Nations Conference which attracted 500 tertiary students from the Asia-Pacific region.

MEMBER
Mr Vivek Foot (VIC)

Vivek Foot is currently undertaking a Juris Doctor (law degree) at University of Melbourne hoping to work in immigration or human rights law. He has experience working with young people who are recently arrived refugees and migrants in resettlement/adjustment programs. He has managed youth leadership and environmental programs, worked on youth based advocacy programs on a range of issues focusing on international development and Indigenous rights. Vivek has also completed a state parliament internship and created a paper addressing social housing issues in the inner north of Melbourne. He is a member of the Youth Advisory Committee for the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria (peak body), the Victorian Ministerial Youth Advisory Committee 2009-2010. Vivek’s overseas experience includes, in-country leader on a youth cooperative program targeting genocide ideology in Rwanda, and as a teacher and youth worker within a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Northern India.

MEMBER
Mr Lachlan Cooke (WA)

Lachlan Cooke has developed the Indigenous Communities Education Appeal (ICEA), a charitable organisation raising resources to enhance educational facilities in the remote Kimberley region. After undertaking many fundraising events and spending time in the Kimberley communities, Lachlan has worked to distribute books and sporting equipment in the area. In addition, Lachlan is working to enhance the children’s learning by encouraging them to increase their attendance at school. The major goal of the charity now is to raise money to fund an incentive scheme where students who regularly attend school receive a new football or basketball. Lachlan was a finalist in the WA Youth Awards in 2009.

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INTERNATIONAL MEMBERS OF THE PLANNING GROUP

Noelyn Wagapu, Solomon Islands

Noelyn Wagapu-Tuza is a Radio Broadcaster by Profession.  As media is a powerful tool, Noelyn used her job as an opportunity to raise awareness on issues affecting young people in the Solomon Islands and has been involved in the making of DVD’s raising awareness on domestic violence against women and girls and HIV/AIDS. In 2009, Noelyn was awarded the Young Female Solomon Islander of the Year Award for outstanding leadership and achievements in community development. In March 2010 she was part of the Solomon Islands delegation who attended the Pacific Youth and Sports Conference in Manukau, New Zealand. In 2010 she was also made the Regional Youth Caucus (RYC) Representative for the Solomon Islands and in July 2010 she was elected the South Pacific Chair for the Pacific Region in Brisbane, Australia.  Noelyn has had the privilege to be part of the Pan-Commonwealth Mid Term Review Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka and the Nkabom 2010 Commonwealth Leadership Programme in Rwanda, Africa.  She was elected Pan-Commonwealth Chair for the Pan Commonwealth Youth Caucus in India during the Commonwealth Youth Leaders conference in December 2010.  Noelyn was also amongst the influential women from across the Commonwealth to meet the Head of the Commonwealth, HM Queen Elizabeth II, to mark Commonwealth Day and its theme ‘Women as Agents of Change’ on 14 March.  Noelyn was selected as one of the Key woman’s advocates from around the Commonwealth through the secretariat’s work on women and gender and was profiled at the Commonwealth Day reception at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Marlborough House in London, UK.

Ato Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

Mr Ato Augustine is dedicated to advocating for the sustainability of youth development and community participation in decision-making locally, regionally and internationally. Ato is a trained counsellor and has a passion for assisting people with social challenges. His position as the previous co-ordinator of an international helpline has given him extensive experience in relating to people and a passion for promoting holistic personal development. Ato’s involvement in the National Youth Council has also given him an intimate knowledge of the issues faced by young people in the wider community and has provided him with the opportunity to share his knowledge and experience and to advocate for youth participation rights. Ato has actively participated in Trinidad and Tobago’s first ever National Youth Policy, National Youth Summit and has also been involved in the strategic planning for the development of the National Youth Council. Ato currently holds a first degree in Human Resource Management and a Certificate in Youth Work. Ato is also the recipient of two national youth awards in Community and Youth Development 2002 and Youth in Leadership 2008. Ato’s interests are in effective youth participation and representation as well as peace building and he now has a greater appreciation for how necessary social interventions and community engagement is towards building a better nation, region and by extension world.

Dalbir Singh, Malaysia

Mr Dalbir Singh currently works as a full time Technical Consultant with Cisco Systems focusing on Smart+Connected Communities and IT Security. Dalbir is currently the Chair for the Asia region of the Regional Youth Caucus, Commonwealth Youth Program (CYP) as well as the Chair for the Human Rights and Democracy thematic group under the CYP. Dalbir’s main interests are in empowering and training underprivileged young people as he firmly believes that young people are an asset that should be developed. Dalbir is also “a women activist in his own way”.  Dalbir was the past immediate Minister Appointed Member to the National Youth Consultative Council of Malaysia for the term 2009/2010. Dalbir also represented Malaysia to the Asean+3 Youth Caucus meeting in Bangkok, 2009 and the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Trinidad & Tobago, 2009.

Samuel Kavuma, Uganda

Mr Samuel Kavuma is the interim Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Caucus. Samuel has been a student leader in Uganda since 1997 at the institution, district and national level. In 2004, Samuel was elected to the National Youth Council of Uganda and in 2007 he was elected to be the Regional Youth Caucus representative. During this time, he was elected by other country youth representatives to be the Regional Coordinator/Chairperson for the Commonwealth African Region Youth Caucus, and more recently, as the interim Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Caucus. Samuel was recently elected as the Chairman, National Youth Council of Uganda and as Youth Representative to the Eminent Persons Group. Samuel has also worked as a youth worker with Students Partnership Worldwide, Youth and Women Initiative of Uganda, and the Africa Youth Trust; he has also served as the Director of Uganda Youth Action for Development. Samuel has spearheaded a number of youth advocacy initiatives and campaigns in Uganda and has helped pioneer the establishment of the one-stop youth centre by UN-Habitat. Samuel completed his formal education in Uganda. Samuel holds a Diploma in Computer Science and is currently a student of Bsc IT. In addition to this, he has participated in training schemes by the Ugandan National Youth Council on leadership skills, reproductive health and human rights. He has also studied leadership, project management, MDGS and Africa Development programmes at Coady International Institute.

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Peter Anum, Ghana

Mr Peter Akai Anum is an International Youth Development Advocate who has facilitated and led youth development initiatives for the past 12 years. Peter is the chair for the Head of State Award winners in Ghana and a member of the Africa regional Training Panel for Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. He is the National Programme Development Manager for the Head of State Award Scheme – Ghana, a youth development programme that engages young people with their communities. He is also the co-founder of Hero Productions Inc, an environmental multimedia company that engages young people in biodiversity and environmental issues. He has recently been selected as a member of the Africa Regional Directors Strategic Think Tank for Youth Development in Africa. Among his many other achievements, Peter is a Bronze, Silver and Gold Award winner of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. In 2005 he received the “Lifetime Young Achievers Award” in the field of Youth Development within West/Central Africa. He has also represented the International Award at the 17th Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers in Malaysia, and as a delegate to Commonwealth Youth Forum 7 in Trinidad and Tobago.

Alicia Swinamer, Canada

Ms Alicia Swinamer is currently employed by the Conservative Government in the office of the Minister for International Trade. Alicia spends her free time focussing on issues relevant to the Commonwealth. Alicia is the current Vice President of Youth for the Royal Commonwealth Society of Ottawa where she creates and runs youth programs, and also sits on the board’s executive. Alicia is also on the national nominating committee for the Royal Commonwealth Society of Canada. Alicia has been involved in the Canadian National Student Commonwealth Forum, first as a planning team member, as a co-chair in 2009 and then advising in 2010. In 2009 Alicia was selected to represent Canadian youth at the Commonwealth Youth Forum 7 in Trinidad and Tobago. Alicia has a B.A. honours in Political Science and Human Rights with a minor in law and a concentration in international relations. In 2010 she completed her Masters degree in Political Science.

John Loughton, UK

Mr John Loughton is currently the UK Parliamentary Manager for Fairbridge, a NGO lobbying for policy changes effecting young people. He previously ran their policy and communications activities in Scotland. John has been a youth activist at a local, national and international level for many years and was previously elected as the chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament.  John had a leading role in setting up and running the CIVICUS Youth Assembly in partnerships with Oxfam, bringing together over 200 young leaders from across 70 countries. John has worked with Governments in a number of capacities including serving as Vice Convener for the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Children and Young People; and representing the United Kingdom at various international conferences and summits including European Union events. Appointed by the Prime Minister, Mr Loughton served as a member on the Commission on Scottish Devolution, Britain’s Literacy Commission; has stood as a Member of Parliament; and has delivered youth leadership training in countries such as Malawi. John also entered the reality television show ‘Big Brother’ (UK) in 2008, to be crowned the show’s winner. John was also a Board member of YouthLink Scotland- the NGO youth agency and was recognised in 2004 for his contribution to the community by being presented with the Evening News award for “Community Involvement”. John was also named runner up as Charity Champion of the year for 2008.

Koh Siew Eng Serene, Singapore

Ms Serene Koh is passionate about developing and empowering young people. For over five years now she has been a core member of CampVision, a voluntary movement dedicated to empowering underprivileged and at-risk youth in Singapore to pursue their dreams. Serene played a pivotal role in leading and organising many of CampVision's youth programmes. Serene also founded ‘Expedition Agape’ in 2008, a mentorship and leadership programme for youth, and has since led two overseas community service expeditions to Cambodia and India. In 2009, Serene represented Singapore at Commonwealth Youth Forum 7 in Trinidad and Tobago. She was also part of the organising team for National Youth Council of Singapore’s Youth Expedition Project 10th anniversary celebrations, recruiting more than 500 volunteers to be part of the initiative. Amongst her other volunteering commitments, Serene also serves as a facilitator for OnePeople.sg, engaging young people in activities and dialogue about ethnic diversity, as well as in the Editorial Team for Make-A-Wish Foundation (Singapore), an organisation that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses.

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