Margaret is a marketing guru turned social change maker. After 15 years in the corporate sector specialising in sales and consulting she took her skills and aimed them towards her true passion; education and youth empowerment.
In 2014, Margaret partnered with a local foundation in Colombia to establish 3 libraries and literacy programs that provided classes to over 150 kids. This evolved to include leadership and youth social entrepreneurship classes for teenagers building and promoting creativity, critical thinking and communication skills.
In 2015, the entrepreneur was part of the Social Traders team advising 10 social enterprises through the “Crunch” incubator program. She has coached and mentored social enterprises including The Social Outfit, Jigsaw, Blak Markets, Mates on the Move and Studio A.
In Sept-Oct 2015, Margaret produced the inaugural NDIS Pitch Competition, helping to uncover and coach some of the most innovative tech social enterprises in Australia – AbilityMade, HireUp and Clickability.
In 2015 she co-founded Young Change Agents a social enterprise dedicated to young people, helping them to see problems as opportunities through business. Young Change Agents equips students with the tools they need to think creatively, communicate effectively and build skills in critical thinking. It empowers them to believe they are good enough to be entrepreneurs, leaders and world changers.
Before Young Change Agents, Margaret spent three years in Colombia learning first-hand about international community development. She consulted with local communities at the grassroots level before partnering with a local foundation. She assisted with the set up of three libraries and literacy programs which provided classes to over 150 children. Her time in Colombia was a catalyst for Young Change Agents. It inspired her to deliver education that teaches real life skills that can be taken directly into the workplace, as an employer or employee.
Under Margaret’s leadership Young Change Agents has grown extensively and now spans New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory, Victoria, Tasmania and now South Australia. The organisation works hand-in-hand with the Department of Education to equip young people with the skills they need to tackle any business challenge they might face in their future.
Students of Young Change Agents are encouraged to be self-believing and hustle for their ideas. Margaret not only ‘talks the talk’ but has proven she ‘walks the walk’, by raising over $1M to fund her own social enterprise via lobbying and collaboration with various stakeholders.
In 2019/20 alone Young Change Agents has:
~Business Game Changer Special Promotion~
- Delivered the co-design of the Australian Government’s Future Female Entrepreneur initiative across four states and territories, in conjunction with the iEntrepreneur initiative.
- Pioneered Australia’s first retail social enterprise-in-a-box concept for schools, in partnership with Good360.
- Partnered with the Telstra Foundation Digital Futures to reach regional schools across five states.
- Trained hundreds of Australian teachers in the delivery of design-based thinking.
- Developed the Entrepreneurs Hub – a gamified app that awards entrepreneurial skill badges to students and helps them create their own entrepreneurial portfolio
- Partnered with Atlassian to run the first tech-based incubator for high school students
But, Margaret is just getting started. She aims to make Young Change Agents accessible for all young people, including indigenous youth, those living with disabilities and at-risk youth. Young Change Agents are also licensing their programs and technology to reach youth outside of Australia.
The recent impact of COVID-19 meant Young Change Agents had to pivot their offering with students now working remotely and teachers hosting virtual lessons. The team created their first national digital challenge, The Coronavirus Youth Design Challenge, with a Judging Panel from the likes of Facebook, Google, Telstra and Microsoft.
To find out more about Margaret, visit her LinkedIn profile. To learn more about Young Change Agents, visit youngchangeagents.com
