TEDxMaldon | TEDxWomen October 2023

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AZZY JAY: "Light up your town to light up your people".

Alison Jones / Azzy Jay: "Can you really light up a town with just one game of scrabble?".

Join Azzy as she shares her experiences of living and working in a small(ish) regional town and finding the YES people in the room. Azzy's TedX talk explores how getting involved in community events can provide a pathway to improving people's mental health and wellbeing, and invites you to consider how you (yes, you!) can light up your town.

With more than a decade in public health, disability inclusion and health promotion, Azzy brings a community development approach to her role as Creative Director of the Castlemaine Fringe Festival.

Belinda Young: "3 tips for creating an effective online community."

When Belinda Young fell off a ladder in 2015, it set off a series of ideas and actions that led to the foundation of online group 'Mums of the Hills'. This is more than just a story about creating a virtual group, however. This story is about one person's desire to do away with the stereotypical idea of what a 'mum' should be; the journey to create a compassionate, supportive and empowering online group and how that group has positively impacted the place-based community around it. The result is a thriving network of mums, ready to tackle any challenge knowing their community will support them. Hear about the 3 key tips Belinda learned along the way to building this online community and how applying these lessons can enrich our place-based communities too.

Belinda Young is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne and President of Mums of the Hills, a community group she founded in 2015. Belinda’s research focuses on whether online groups can promote place-based action in the prevention of human caused bushfire ignitions. Mums of the Hills is predominantly an online group of 6000 members in the Yarra Ranges, an area in Melbourne’s east known for its beauty and vulnerability to disasters. The group is unique in that it has successfully created a strong online/ place-based community connection, built the social capital of the community and provided clear communication and support following disasters. Belinda was recognised for this work by recently being awarded the 2023 Victoria, Australian of the Year Local Hero award.

Lauren Starr: "You're the Only One Who Can Crown Yourself an Artist"

How winning Australia’s richest art prize taught me that no amount of external validation will ever be enough if you don’t choose yourself. A story about nurturing your inner artist in the face of self criticism and rejection, and staying true to creating the art that makes your heart sing.

Lauren is a multi-award winning artist, including the winner of the national Bluethumb art prize in 2022. Lauren's work explores motherhood, femininity and their roles through time; through narrative and symbol-rich imagery. Her detailed and vibrant artworks are born from her abundant inner world, fueled by history, literature, folklore, nature and spirituality.

Summer Howarth and Evie Garvey: "Students as partners."

Article 12 of the rights of the child says clearly that children and young people are entitled to have a voice on matters that impact them. Gonski recommendation 3 also states that students should become partners in learning for improving systems and wellbeing. Not convinced? Let Evie Garvey and I show you how she uses her big bright voice to prove that the only way to improve the system and society is through partnering with young people.

Summer Howarth spends her days championing teachers and has worked across every education system and sector in Australia! Her passion, experience and unique perspective has established her as one of the most sought after learning experience designers and facilitators in Australia.

Evie, currently 8 years old, is a student at the local primary school in the small coastal town she lives in, where the river mouth meets the ocean. She loves surfing, gymnastics, swimming, basketball, soccer, her friends and family and believes all students should be treated how everyone wants to be treated and should be a part of designing how and what they learn. Evie thinks that learning should be about a fun journey towards a great outcome and even if it’s not a great outcome, she believes we can still learn from it.

Emma Bennison: "I'm not Contagious."

Fear hinders society’s willingness to engage in sensible and courageous discussion, debate and advocacy. Fear makes us illogical. Why do people at shops and airports prefer to speak with sighted people, people standing near me or beside me, rather than speaking with me directly? Are they frightened of catching blindness? Hopefully not. Nevertheless, fear is the underlying, pervasive barrier to true equity and equality, which too often limits meaningful interaction between minorities and mainstream society, keeping us stuck in judgment and opposition, rather than bringing us together to have courageous conversations. What if we could relinquish our deeply held fears from the check-in counter to the checkout, from the conciliation table to the courtroom, in favour of a world that is more courageous, confident, compassionate and connected?

Emma is Chief Innovation Officer with Life Without Barriers, where she provides empowering, inspiring and collaborative leadership that drives the development and implementation of strategic change and engagement initiatives in relation to disability advocacy and community services delivery across Life Without Barriers and beyond. Prior to commencing this role, Emma completed five years as CEO of Blind Citizens Australia, revitalising the national representative organisation of Australians who are blind or vision impaired. Emma also chairs the Attitude Foundation, which is shaping a new understanding of disability through the promotion and development of media content that provides
realistic portrayals of people with disability. She also serves on Tasmania’s Ministerial Arts and Cultural Advisory Council.

In 2020, Emma won the national Aspire Award for community development and advocacy and was the recipient of a full MBA scholarship for outstanding not-for-profit leaders from the Australian Scholarships Foundation and Kaplan Business School. A singer and song-writer, in 2015, Emma released her first solo album, Fine Line, which reflects on her experiences as a person with disability and as an advocate.

Sarah Duncanson: "Keeping kids alive...now what?"

Sarah Duncanson brings to light how western medicine has advanced to a point where children who would once be considered palliative are now granted multiple chances of surviving. But the question needs to be asked: “what is surviving?” We have kept children alive to discharge… but now what? Rehabilitating children is not just about sending them home with rescheduled check-ups.

How do we create a community that helps kids with chronic illness and traumatic injury not just survive but thrive? How do we embrace a holistic model of care that encompasses the entire family unit and builds and strengthens community at the same time?

Sarah has cared for children in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit for over 15 years with a particular interest in congenital cardiac conditions, trauma and retrieval medicine. She is also heavily involved in community resuscitation, sitting on the board of the Australian Resuscitation Council and is co-director of PAEDS education, providing resuscitation and disability carer training all over Australia. She proudly represented children with disability as a finalist for the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award 2023. As a mum of four children, Sarah has a passion to reach the unreachable and ensure that education is provided in a meaningful, empowering way without the fear mongering.

Lauren Sayer: "Behind the Mask: Embracing Neurodiversity in Leadership."

Hello there! I am a neurodivergent leader, and no, my ADHD isn't my superpower - I am super, with or without it. Unseen, unspoken, we women often mask our neurodiversity. But it's time to change the narrative!

Join me as I unmask my not-so-secret identity, share my journey through the struggle to leadership, and reveal the unvarnished reality behind the superhero façade. I never saw neurodivergent female leaders growing up - now, I'm stepping up to be one.

As a woman navigating neurodivergence, I had no role models to look up to. Now, as a leader myself, I want to shed light on the importance of representation. We can only aspire to what we can see, so let's make the invisible visible. Let's create a space to acknowledge, respect, and celebrate neurodiversity.

I am more than my adhd. I'm resilient, powerful, and ready to inspire. It's time to unmask, share, and shine. Let's redefine leadership together!

Andrea Khong: "How being quiet can speak volumes."

As an introvert it can be a continual struggle to find your voice and know when to speak up. Once we embrace quietness, we find there are many instances in work and life where, instead of fearing conversations and interactions, we can let our introversion shine and create space for meaningful connections and influential encounters.

Dr Andrea Khong is a scientist, veterinarian and self-proclaimed professional introvert. She owns the Maldon Vet Clinic where she has created a calm and quiet environment for both owners and their pets.

Maree Edwards: "Challenging perceptions of Women in Leadership"

Maree Edwards was recently asked if she was planning to retire in politics “because she was a grandmother”. It was that comment that made Maree more determined than ever to maintain her leadership role, to prove to her grandkids, and to her community, that you can lead with authenticity and passion, grounded by the ones you love. In a time when trust in politicians and democratic institutions is low, and our world is facing complex challenges, Maree contests the negative perceptions of women in leadership roles and why more women should put their hand up to get involved.

Maree Edwards is a mother of four, a stepmother to two grownup children, a grandmother of eleven, has been a carer for her late husband – and is a proud girl from Maryborough. In her spare time she’s out walking her two dogs, Jesse and Beto, plays the piano, and spends time with her ever-expanding family. Maree has been the MP for Bendigo West in the Victorian Parliament since 2010 – and in 2022 was elected the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

Janet Bromley: "What we can learn about networking from a First Nations perspective."

I have spent many years connecting with local Aboriginal artists. Their art over time has developed as they saw that their art was appreciated and that there were possibilities to make money from their art. Even as a volunteer, at the start of this connection, I would talk with First Nations artists about networking and how important it was to build who you know, connect with organisations which may one day be a customer.

Why network, who to network with, what we network for is different for many First Nations people because of learned behaviours, originally a response carried by family and community trauma.

What are the main barriers for First Nations people regarding connecting and networking as artists and people? And how can put the reactions of others aside to achieve what we seek?

Janet Bromley is a Yorta Yorta artist and the First Nations Arts Officer for City of Greater Bendigo.

HOW SPEAKERS WERE SELECTED

TERMS AND GUIDELINES FOR SPEAKERS

All speakers agree to the following terms and conditions:

You agree to abide by the rules of speaking at a TEDx event (click to read).
There is no payment for TEDx speakers, it is a not-for-profit event, and any income or support from sponsorship or tickets sales go directly towards all expenses for the event
The broad theme of TEDxMaldonWomen is gender.
Your TEDx talk must be a minimum of 8 minutes and a maximum of 12 minutes (at 10 minutes, a bell will ring as a warning)
There is no panel or Q&A after your talk. Once you have finished your talk, there will be a 2 minute change-over break and you will be invited to sit and watch the other talks at the event
Your TEDx talk should include the broad theme of gender and be based on a clear, focused topic the local audience will be interested in; as well as a very specific idea, theory or proposition you think could make a big difference in healing or helping the world regarding your chosen theme (your talk must include a call to action, something for the audience and viewers to do as a result of hearing and seeing your talk)
All speakers undertake a selection process and you will be selected based on the potential interest of your talk to a local and global audience and the diversity of the final list of talks (we want a range of diverse topics)
No sponsor or organiser of the event can also be a speaker
No talks with an inflammatory political or religious agenda, nor polarizing “us vs them” language
We seek to build consensus and provide outside-the-box thinking, not to revisit familiar, unresolvable disputes on these topics
If selected, you must arrive at least 15-30 minutes prior to the event commencing to ensure you are present, ready and available to participate
TEDxMaldon is a licensed TEDx event and talks will be published on the TEDx website