Monica is a young woman of mixed Ghanaian and Australian descent who is currently undertaking a Master of Social Work at the University of Melbourne. A former president of the Africa Club at the University of Melbourne, Monica is the inaugural cofounder of Afro-Australian Student Organisation – which represents the interests of African students, providing them with tailored, culturally relevant services and an arena to network and form meaningful relationships.

She is a current finalist for the National Youth Week Youth Leadership Award.

She was a recipient of the 2014 Victorian African Community Youth Leadership Award and the 2013 Leaders in Communities Award from the University of Melbourne, which she received for her extensive voluntary and leadership experience in the community.

She is a member of the Multifaith Multicultural Youth Network, providing advice to the Victorian Government through the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship on issues and initiatives that affect young Victorians from culturally, religiously and linguistically diverse backgrounds; youth advisor to the Ghanaian Association of Victoria; steering committee member of Africa Day Australia, African Music and Cultural Festival and African Review Panel; and volunteer at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. 

Monica is passionate about advocating for multicultural youth to be engaged in youth led organisations, education and employment. She wants to make a positive change to inspire and work directly with other young people to change the perceptions society holds about multicultural youth – and hopefully make the world a bit easier for the next generation to live in.

Anna’s climate change work started with shovelling compost and emptying recycling bins in high school. She went on to work with the National Union of Students (winning dozens of campus clean energy victories), speak onstage with the Dalai Lama in Perth, trudge through the snow door-knocking in the United States, and spearhead Australia’s first climate torch relay in her former role as GetUp’s climate campaigner.

In 2011 Anna received a Churchill Fellowship to research youth peer-to-peer climate education. The Sydney Morning Herald named her one of Sydney’s most influential people (2009) and one of the top five most powerful grassroots organisers in NSW (2011).