Meet the current and previous members of our Young Women’s Council who have worked with us to make positive change in the lives of women and gender diverse people experiencing housing instability and homelessness.
If you are interested in connecting with the Young Women’s Council for consultative or advocacy purposes, or a current or former Council member for an advocacy opportunity, please contact YWCA Australia’s Advocacy and External Affairs Team at advocacy@ywca.org.au
Click the years served to jump to that period’s cohort.
Angelina is a passionate youth and health equity activist committed to amplifying diverse, intersectional voices for a more equitable world. She is completing her Bachelor of Health Sciences in 2024 and will begin her Doctor of Medicine and Surgery at ANU in 2025. Angelina draws on her expertise in research, advocacy, and campaigning, as well as her lived experience as a queer woman of colour from a low socioeconomic background, to drive systemic change.
Elected as Queensland’s Youth Health Minister in 2021, Angelina led a groundbreaking Youth Bill to end period poverty. Since then, she has collaborated with youth activists in Nepal and Indonesia to research the gendered impacts of climate change, serves on the International Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Consortium, and is the Lead Campaigner for Sexual Health Advocates for Reproductive Equity (SHARE), advancing universal access to contraception in Australia. She also serves as a board director at Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT and the Australian Women’s Health Alliance, where her intersectional feminist perspective supports gender equity in healthcare and sexual and reproductive health justice.
Sarah is the founder of What Were You Wearing (WWYW), a non-profit organisation focusing on providing education, awareness and advocacy on sexual violence. She is a survivor advocate of both child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault.
She is passionate about ending domestic and sexual violence and being able to help and support survivors. In 2023, she was awarded Newcastle Woman of the Year and was also awarded New South Wales Volunteer of the Year by Youth Action in 2022.
Her main passions are bringing awareness to how First Nations people, people living with a disability, and people within the LGBTQIA+ community are more affected by sexual violence. Being a part of all three communities has allowed her to have unique lived experience within these groups. Sarah is also studying a dual Bachelor of Law and Communication at the University of Newcastle.
Lauren is a proud Arabana and Southern Arrernte person raised on Boon-wurrung country, and a passionate advocate for marginalised people, having held advisory and policy guidance roles in several organisations. They were on the Youth Advisory Committee for the Royal Children’s Hospital from 2013-2018 as a person with disability. Lauren has also been heavily involved in student representation at the University of Melbourne Student Union, serving as both an Indigenous Committee member and general council representative in 2021, and a student-elected Office Bearer in 2022.
They describe themselves as an intersectional feminist and aim to platform the concerns and struggles of women and gender diverse people oppressed on several axes – women and gender diverse people who are Indigenous, people of colour, living with disability, queer, migrant and refugee. They believe that this is integral to ensuring the liberation and equality of all women and gender diverse people.
Rhiannon is a disabled, queer 25-year-old woman whose life is dedicated to social justice. She has spent over a decade volunteering in diverse roles with social justice organisations, bringing particular passion to policy and education reform. With experience spanning the NGO, private, public, grassroots, pharmacy, and government sectors, Rhiannon now focuses on gender-based violence, disability rights, and accessibility.
In recent years, she has merged her personal health journey and self-advocacy in the medical and healthcare industries with her activism and training, raising awareness of how to navigate health services and self-advocacy, with a gendered perspective and integrating accessibility and inclusion. Her passion and overall aim is to engage and encourage everyone to participate in community issues and socio-political matters.
Rhiannon is especially passionate about amplifying the intersectional voices of young women and gender-diverse individuals, which are often overlooked in housing policy and the disability rights landscape. Her advocacy centres on the human experience, and she champions learning through the lived experiences of others.
Zoe Keath is a policy officer, youth advocate, and the founder of #SubmissionsSunday, an initiative dedicated to amplifying youth participation in parliamentary and government decision-making processes. Driven by a commitment to elevating youth voices across all levels of policy, Zoe collaborates with various organisations to advance this mission. Zoe is also an honours graduate from QUT, specialising in criminology and psychology, with her honours thesis examining the role of politics and social media in far-right extremism. Her contributions to the community have earned her recognition as one of the top 20 Women in Sustainable Development, a Young Woman to Watch in International Affairs (2023), and a Semi-Finalist in the 7News Young Achievers and Community Achievement Awards (2024).
Tamika is a Widjabul Wia-Bal Bundjalung woman connected to the Aboriginal communities in Redfern, the Central Coast, and the Northern Rivers region. Tamika became a mother at a young age (20) and often draws from this lived experience when advocating for other young women and highlighting the complex barriers faced by young parents and First Nations peoples.
Tamika is postgraduate qualified and spent a decade working, studying and travelling within the Australian construction industry, where she worked in tier 1 construction management. Within this time, she witnessed many injustices of the building and development sector, and how this significantly impacts housing insecurity, mental health, and First Nations workforce development and participation.
Tamika is a 2024 Atlantic Fellow for the University of Melbourne, where she is completing a Master of Social Change Leadership and undertaking a social change project developing housing for Aboriginal communities.
Asha Clementi is the Founder and CEO of Girls Run the World. She is an award-winning gender equality activist creating opportunities for young women in leadership and diplomacy. She graduated from the Australian National University with a Master of Diplomacy in 2022 and a Bachelor of International Security Studies in 2021.
At the age of 17, she co-founded The Girls Leadership Network. The program holds a series of free leadership workshops for young women aged 16 to 21, inspiring participants to create and run their own initiatives – from school clubs to social impact startups. In 2018, Asha founded Girls Run The World – a program that encourages young women to consider careers in diplomacy. It has given over 300 participants the opportunity to spend a day in 50 participating Embassies and High Commissions, meeting with ambassadors and making tangible contributions to the embassy’s work. In 2024, in collaboration with the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at ANU, she started the Women in Strategic Policy program – a new initiative, funded by the Department of Defence that trains and supports young women to contribute to Australia’s strategic policy debate.
She was named the 2022 ACT Young Woman of the Year and one of the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians. Her work has been recognised internationally, as she received a Commonwealth Points of Light award from Queen Elizabeth II and a Hän Honour from the Government of Finland.
Claudia Robinson is a passionate solicitor and human rights advocate dedicated to advancing equity, justice, and social inclusion. Admitted to practice law in both Australia and New Zealand, Claudia’s work is focused on supporting marginalised communities and fostering systemic change. Beyond her legal expertise, Claudia is deeply engaged in community service, mentoring emerging professionals, and creating accessible resources to empower others. She brings a trauma-informed and culturally sensitive approach to her work, ensuring that every voice is heard and valued.
Claudia undertakes a range of volunteer activities in the not for profit sector. Currently, Claudia serves as the Chair of the NSW Young Lawyers Human Rights Subcommittee and the Deputy Chair for Australian Lawyers for Human Rights’ Human Rights Act(s) Committee, in addition to being part of the executive management team.
Claudia’s work has garnered international recognition, including receiving the Education Leadership Award from the Legacy Project.
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