How do diverse young leaders strengthen rural communities?

There are so many young leaders that stand out to me in our world. The first of these is Vee Kativhu: education activist for girls and founder of Empowered by Vee, a youth empowerment organisation. The second is Yusra Mardini: Goodwill Ambassador and member of the first ever Olympic refugee team at the age of 18. Finally, Greta Thunberg: climate change activist and environmental advocate. One of the reasons they inspire me so much is that they’re all young women, just like me, but they have experienced circumstances I can’t begin to imagine. All of them decided to take a stand and make an impactful change in this world, something I’ve always aspired to do.

However, I also wonder about the leaders that don’t stand out. The leaders that work behind the scenes. Of course the leaders who make big statements are incredibly important: they push us and get us going. But sometimes we can forget the people around us; everyday leaders. In my life, there’s Chloe Schmidt: my school captain and worship leader at my church. Charlotte Van Zeeland: Senior Student Indigenous Leader and a strong contributor to our community. Aarohi Deshmukh: year twelve choir leader and debating captain. These people don’t have their own Wikipedia page, or get recognised in the street, but they are such important leaders to many like myself.

So what characterises a leader within any context? I believe it is someone who shows passion, kindness and integrity, who’s willing to stand up for others even when no one is watching. An individual who cares about the good of society and wants to make a difference in it. A leader who isn’t afraid to challenge issues currently existing and brainstorm solutions with integrity and resilience. Leaders see these issues in our communities, big or small, and find out the steps to improve them in order to make our communities better. You may be thinking, what’s the point? We can make a list of what characteristics are important to be a good leader, but the real question is: why are they so important?

Leaders shape us, make us who we are. They encourage and inspire other individuals of all ages. They have good communication and collaboration skills and foster creativity and critical thinking. They lead communities to new horizons and better lives. Stronger communities make stronger futures. It’s even more important that our leaders are representative of every culture and age. A richly diverse community of young leaders means more people represented in the public eye, more lives being changed and more cultures being reached and impacted.

These people, whether they have a Wikipedia page or not, are the ones who make a difference. They shape our rural communities to stick together, and to raise up other young leaders. All kinds of leaders, all around the world, who are working together to make stronger futures.