The List of Youth Speakers and Inspiring Young People to Invite to Your Conference or Event

In response to tech conference Tokion‘s lack of women speakers, women bloggers everywhere banded together to create a list of women speakers for any conference, hosted at Personism. The ever-growing list contains hundreds of inspiring women in design, the arts, entrepreneurship, activism, non-profits, business, and everything else that would certainly be an asset for any conference or gathering of minds.

There’s another group of people often missing at these conferences though: young people. Sure, there is no end to youth conferences, but look at the big ones like TED or ideaCity – how many of the participants are under 30? IdeaFestival is testing out a “IF Kids” section, which was apparently quite successful in the 2007 festival, but might be a little condescending to young adults who aren’t actually kids but who aren’t quite old enough to blend in with the other adults. And even if those big events were more inclusive socially, many deserving young people won’t be able to afford them. Tickets are upwards of US$500 a piece, and that’s if you’re lucky enough to get them before they sell out. Factor in travel, visas, accommodation, and all other costs and you see a very pricey proposition that turns away many young people from otherwise being the biggest contributors.

What young people need are more opportunities to be represented, more exposure to wider groups of people (and not just their peers). Young people should be taking the stage more often in those big events, they should be the ones being listened to by big minds such as Al Gore or Richard Branson. It’s their voice that should be heard, particularly since all the big chances will be handled by us anyway.

Inspired by Personism’s list, I am now creating:

This list is by no means exhaustive. If you want to be on this list, or know anyone (below 30) who should be here, leave me a comment with their name, country, the field they’re involved in, and a brief description. Please also include a link to a website or webpage about them. It doesn’t have to be their personal/business website – a profile or a news article works too, just as long as it has information (and preferably contact details too) about themselves.

Don’t be afraid to self-promote! So many of us deserve better but are too shy or modest to ask for it. I will scan the list for scammers and spammers though.

You may notice that (at least in the early versions) this list is skewed towards a certain geographical area. This is partly because I’m from that area so I know more people there, but also because people in non-Western countries tend to be underrepresented in big events like these. See the diversity of countries as a good thing – you’ll get a very varied set of backgrounds and opinions, information and knowledge will cross borders, and everyone benefits.

List last updated: 26 Jan 2008

NAME	COUNTRY	FIELD	DESCRIPTION
Tiara Shafiq	Malaysia / Bangladesh / Australia	Youth, Alternative Education	Maintainer of youth/alternative education blog EducateDeviate
Suzanne Lee	Malaysia	Photography	Self-made professional photographer and traveller
Poh Si Teng	Malaysia / USA	Journalism	Co-founder of Malaysia youth socio-political magazine theCICAK
Tharum Bun	Cambodia	IT, Communications	Blogger on ITCs
Khailee Ng	Malaysia	Entrepreneurship	Co-Founder of theCICAK and various web ventures
Daniel CerVentus Lim	Malaysia	Entrepreneurship	Maintainer of Malaysian entrepreneurship blog Ideapreneur
David Askaripour	USA	Entrepreneurship	Founder of youth entrepreneurship portal Mind Petal, web entrepreneur
Brett Farmiloe	USA	Passion	Went on the “Pursue the Passion” roadtrip to interview leading people about their passions in life
Hayley Angell	Australia	Passion, Empowerment	Life coach and speaker on youth empowerment
Jessica Kiely	Australia	Youth, Career Development	Founder of FRANK Team, a company that empowers youth through speakers and newsletters on career development
Adam Smith	Australia	Youth, Education	COO of Education Foundation Australia
Bec Heinrich	Australia	Youth, Education, Leadership	CEO and Founder of Rising Generations
Tom Dawkins	Australia	Youth, Media	Founder of youth media portal VibeWire
Simon Moss	Australia	Youth, International Development, Education, Poverty	COO of youth-run development organization The Oaktree Foundation
Hugh Evans	Australia	Youth, International Development, Education, Poverty	Founder of youth-run development organization The Oaktree Foundation
Jennifer Corriero	Canada	Youth, International Development	Founder of TakingITGlobal
Effa Desa	Malaysia	Film, Activism	Founder of Filmmakers Anonymous, organizes film festivals in Malaysia
Renee Dillon	Australia	Art, Crafts	Organizes workshops for budding artisans
Victor Gan	Australia	Photography, Film	Self-trained photographer and filmmaker
Craig Kielburger	USA	Children’s Rights, Activism	Co-founded Free the Children at 12 years old
Aaron Gill	Malaysia	Web, IT	IT entrepreneur
Michelle Gunaselan	Malaysia	Activism	Writer at TELL magazine, co-founder of voter education initiative VoteED
Cally Highfield	United Kingdom	Art	Artist, illustrator, and novelist of Rose Petal Tea
Hwa Yang Jerng	Malaysia	Philosophy	Interested in Machine intelligence, Cultural phenomenology, History of ideas, Bridging/unifying the liberal arts, science, engineering, and commerce
Kenny Koay	Australia	Entrepreneurship	Founder of j2k, a mobile phone plan distributor that provides employment opportunities for international students in Melbourne
Trisha Okubo	USA	Entrepreneurship, Media, E-Commerce, Fashion	Founder of Omiru: Style for All, a style website dedicated to real style for real people. Style expert featured in Lucky Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Disruptive Innovator at eBay, currently focusing on social commerce projects
Kidchan	Malaysia	Arts, Graphic Design	Self-made artist; interesting observations about Malaysia
Darren Lee	Malaysia	Internet Technology, New Media, Web2.0/Social Networking	Founder of Intrivent Global, Internet Technology Evangelist, New Media Specialist in the field of Web 2.0/Social Networking
Bryce Ives	Australia	Youth, Media, Arts	First General Manager of SYN Melbourne, Australia’s largest youth media project. Crrently the online producer of the ABC’s Heywire
Nikki Brooker	United Kingdom / Australia	Youth, Politics, Peace	First young person in the UK involved with campaigning to establish the UK Youth Parliament, then a trustee and co-ordinated the London Region. Also involved in Peace One Day
Reynato Reodica	Australia	Youth Policy, Youth Rights	Executive officer of the Youth Action Policy Association, peak body for all youth workers and young people in NSW Australia
Brandon Bear	Australia	Youth Health, Sexual Health	Working in sexual health and drug and alcohol health promotion in the field of harm minimisation for 5 years
Joshua Rayan	Malaysia / Singapore / Australia / Indonesia	Media, Communications	Founder of Words Wizards, a creative communications agency that has become a branding specialist for many corporates
Yvonne Foong	Malaysia	Health, Neurofibromatosis	Advocate for neurofibromatosis awareness, writer
Carol Chew	Malaysia	Politics, Youth	National chairperson for Beliawanis, the young women’s arm of Malaysian political party MCA
Joel Clark	Australia	Youth Empowerment, Leadership, Poverty, Education	Founder of nonprofit organisation, Community Spirit Tours, and wide-covering youth advocate with a number of organisations
Josh Lim	Malaysia	Media, Advertising	Founder of blog advertising company Advertlets
Adelyn Lim	Malaysia	Children, Health, Cancer	Founder of children’s cancer organization ROLF Kids
Joel Neoh	Malaysia	Youth, Entrepreneurship	Winner of The Firm and founder of YouthMalaysia
Jennifer L. Pozner	USA	Women, Media, Writing, News	Founder of Women in Media & News, a women’s media analysis, education and advocacy organization dedicated to increasing women’s presence and power in the public debate
Christine HappySlip	USA / The Philippines (?)	Media, Video, Web	Creator of one-woman YouTube show HappySlip
Zadi Diaz	USA	Media, Web, Production	Co-founder of online production company Smashface Productions
Alicia Curtis	Australia	Youth, Leadership, Mentoring	Assists schools and businesses harness the leadership potential of their young people
Donnie Maclurcan	Australia	Politics, Community, Social Entrepreneurship	Founder of Australian community project Project Australia
Miriam Lyons	Australia	Youth Policy, Festivals	Director of Center for Policy Development, director for various festivals in Australia
Matt Noffs	Australia	Youth, Drug & Alcohol Dependency	Development Manager at the Ted Noffs Foundation
Billie Jean Edwards	Australia	Youth, Indigenous Issues	Young Indigenous leader
Joey Le	Australia	Cultural Awareness, Personal and Professional Development, Leadership, Mental Health for Young People, Youth Health Issues	Former Chair of NSW Youth Advisory Council. Currently working as a medical doctor with an interest in psychiatry and adolescent health
Danielle Begg	Australia	Social Policy, Youth Activism, Psychology	Co-established youth advocacy group Australian Teens Advocating Change (ATAC), aimed to promote multiculturalism, the prevention of substance abuse and a positive image of youth in the media through community service announcements and nation wide tours
Jimmy Kyle	Australia	Youth Empowerment, Indigenous Youth	Program manager of Koori Connect, which engages indigenous young people on a range of cultural activities and events aimed at improving community connection, school retention and providing vocational learning opportunities
Sarah Chunys OAM	Australia	Mental Illnesses, Youth Health	Motivational speaker on the subject of adversity/getting through tough times and mental health issues including suicide
Josh Shipp	USA	Youth Empowerment	High-rated youth speaker, CosmoGIRL columnist, has a TV show in development
Peter Draw	Singapore	Art, Drawing, Children, Happiness	Social Cartoonist
Xavier Clarke	Australia	Indigenous Youth, Social Issues	AFL star and co-founder of Indigenous youth support group Unity Foundation
Linh Do	Australia	Youth, Environment	Youth founder of Change A Million Light Bulbs and Change&Switch
David Toovey	Australia	Youth, Social Justice	Current director of the Oaktree Foundation

Don’t forget to list your recommendations!