Michelle
| Name: |
Michelle |
| I live: |
Melbourne, Australia |
I work at the Inspire Foundation (the crew behind ActNow) as a Research Project Manager. My job is to manage small research projects and collaborations which looks at the potential of technology to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people from diverse backgrounds. I'm also doing a PhD at the University of Melbourne. My project is looking at how professionals who work with young people can use technology to improve young people's mental health.
Before I started at Inspire, I worked for a couple of years in state and local government to help young people have a say on issues they're passionate about.
A few years ago I got to fulfil a dream of mine since I was about five, by visiting New York City and Washington DC. I'm intrigued by the idea of cities that have such a concentration of the world's wealth and power, but are also home to some of the worst urban poverty in the world.
One of the biggest influences on my community involvement is my dad, who taught me to write my first letter to a politician when I was about eight years old. I'm also inspired by some of my closest friends: they are people who just live their lives with so much energy and passion and aren't afraid to just 'be' with whatever it is they are feeling whether it's love, passion, anger or hurt.
One of my biggest challenges is learning when to speak up and when to just listen and let others speak for themselves.
I love music that has a message; artists like Ani di Franco, Michael Franti, Ben Harper, Midnight Oil and Shane Howard, am completely obsessed with the TV show The West Wing and I think it's really important to remember that 'decisions are made by those who show up.'
