On Friday 13 September 2019, our Western Sydney Committee, in partnership with Cumberland Council, delivered a sold-out event that championed the involvement of young people at all stages of the impact measurement cycle.
The event featured a passionate panel, including Maia Giordano from Cumberland Council, Rhianon Vichta from Brisbane Youth Service, Celia Finch from Multicultural NSW, and Brooke Trewlynn and Blayke Tatafu from Kimberwalli.
Facilitated by Krissy Stapleton from Youth Action NSW, the event began with Maia introducing the audience to some of Cumberland Council’s recent projects involving young people. Maia stressed that a priority for the Council is to engage young people in an on-going conversation about decision-making within their communities. This was highlighted through the participation of over 1,600 young people in the development of the Cumberland Youth Strategy 2017-2021.
Maia spoke about the importance of working together with young people to understand their feelings, motivations and lived experiences as these can lead to deep insights which are integral to driving meaningful change. She told us that impact measurement is all about asking young people about the outcomes they want to see as a result of a project and empowering them to be the drivers of that change. She also encouraged organisations to think about young people not as a problem to be solved but as experts in their own experience with evolving capacities.
A common theme from the presentations was the need to clear at the outset of a project as to why we are measuring outcomes. Rhianon from Brisbane Youth Service posed the question of what life could look like if we all shared a vision of measuring outcomes. Rhianon spoke of the many challenges and opportunities that arise when measuring outcomes with a focus on young people. These included the importance of managing varying levels of trust, being flexible within changing environments, and a willingness to shift approach when faced with a lack of time and resources. Rhianon offered some learnings around the importance of working together to define what is in and out of your impact measurement scope, only measuring what you have the capacity to analyse and just giving it a go! Rhianon stressed that above all, impact measurement is about making a commitment to using your impact measurement learnings to do things differently.
Up next was Brooke and Blayke from Kimberwalli, a place where young people can shape their own destiny in a culturally strong and innovative space. Brooke and Blayke represented two of the eight local Indigenous young people selected for the all-youth project advisory committee that were responsible for helping to set the direction for Kimberwalli. They spoke about their enjoyment of the experience overall, the sense of value and purpose they gained through their involvement on the project group, and their commitment to realising Kimberwalli as a welcoming place for generations to come.
Consultation and engagement was at the heart of developing the NSW Government’s Refugee Youth Policy Initiative. Celia Finch from Multicultural NSW spoke about how the team initiated a co-design process to create more inclusive and effective policy solutions with young people from refugee backgrounds. Together with Abdallah and Amro, two of the youth peer researchers, Celia spoke about the value of involving young people from the very beginning of this project through defining key project objectives and parameters. In all, this project recruited 15 youth peer researchers who spoke with around 338 young people. The youth peer researchers worked closely with participants to overcome barriers, including geographical isolation for young people in regional areas. We also heard that the insights gained through this project will be used to better inform policy makers and advocate for a shift in current policy.
The presentations were followed by a short Q&A session, focusing on the experiences of the panel in conducting impact measurement with young people. The event concluded with attendees discussing at their tables the take home messages from the session. Some of the take home messages shared included:
- “Relationships with youth workers and young people are important when measuring outcomes”
- “Allow young people to tell us what they need and work with them”
- “Engaging lived experience as a tool for empowerment and skill building”
- “Give incentives for youth-led projects”
- “Data collection with youth is challenging. A flexible approach is essential”
- “Evaluate a few things well”
- “Remember when collecting data to think about what is useful versus what will be used”
- “Making evaluation part of the way you work and providing mutual benefit”
- “Provide opportunities for knowledge and skill development. Don’t just get young people’s views but give something back to them”
A big thank you to our event sponsor Cumberland Council, our fantastic speakers, our facilitator Krissy Stapleton and all those who attended. The presentations from the event are available below this blog for download.
We look forward to seeing you at our next event!
Katie Wearne and Amy Lawton
SIMNA Western Sydney Committee
1. SIMNA WS Presentation – Cumberland Council
2. SIMNA WS Presentation – Rhianon Vichta
3. SIMNA WS Presentation – Kimberwalli
4. SIMNA WS Presentation – Multicultural NSW
