Agents of Change International Youth Summit

Be inspired!  Meet activists from Ireland and around the world and learn about how they use their talents to work for social justice. Our activists spill the tea on everything from fashion and dance to UN ambassadorships and International Development. 

Think! Learn about social justice – explore the things that you really care about – consider – what’s your area of interest? How can you be an agent of change? Ask our team.  

Create! Watch your ideas come to life. A live artist will create a piece of art from your feedback during the webinar! She will create a final art-piece from your ideas, which we will share with you. 

So stop what you're doing and tune in April 23 from 10:00 to 12:00!

Meet our wonderful guests and find out more about the wealth and breadth of activism experience that they will be bringing to this event.

Valery's passion for tackling inequalities and working to encourage youth civil participation influenced her choice of studies. She is currently working as a Climate Justice Officer with the National Youth Council of Ireland Youth 2030 programme and is the outgoing Irish UN Youth Delegate 2019-2020.  

From Dublin, Valery was the Irish Youth delegate to cycle five of the EU Structured Dialogue, a European Commission initiative to include young people in decision-making. She was part of the last youth delegation to the EU-AU Youth Summit where she served on the Environmental Cluster. 

She has previously sat on the steering group committee of the youth section of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (Y-Factor) and the expert group on membership, diversity and inclusion for the European Youth Forum. She also served as the Chairperson of the European Network Against Racism Ireland (ENAR Ireland). 

Valery believes that neither climate change nor poverty can be dealt with if we do not address the economic inequality in our society. She believes that restructuring our economy and education system centred on the household can help us achieve a better world for all. Moving away from the scarcity model, she believes, will give young people the opportunity to regain their critical agency and spar innovations that are necessary for our survival today. 

Shorshor, from Ghana, has committed her life to satisfying her many passions and interests while contributing to creating change wherever she finds herself. Aged 21, she has explored many interests - from designing clothes to shoemaking, working with toddlers, teens and young adults, events organizing, opening and running a fashion retail store, and, most recently, consulting for other young businesses and their owners.  

Shorshor loves people and her charisma draws them to her easily and quickly, making her a trustworthy source for many young business owners seeking technical, entrepreneurial support. Her commitment to chasing her dreams has sent her across the globe to Johannesburg, London, Paris, and Florida. She is a firm believer in the power that formal education yields when coupled with the informal sector. This falls in line with her passion for education.  

Her biggest goal is to reduce youth unemployment drastically by encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship amongst the youth; hence her blog, the BUILDer class. She shares and teaches concepts that she has learned, tried and tested in entrepreneurship in understandable language with analogies.   

When she isn't sitting behind her desk in her room doing remote school in Accra, you can find her trying out foods from different vendors and writing reviews on them. Shorshor loves to spend quality time catching up with close friends, virtually or physically, in her downtime. When they don't pick up her calls, then she will settle with swimming, spending time with children, laying in bed listening to music and most recently, redecorating her living space.

Michael Doorly, is the Head of Concern’s Active Citizenship programme. He trained as a post primary teacher and worked in Canada, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad before joining Concern in 1993. He served as the Chair of Fairtrade Ireland and is delighted to work with the NYCI as part of the Youth2030 programme. 

He believes that we are now living in a once-in-a-hundred-year time of opportunity. That we have a chance to create a ‘new normal’ that protects people, the planet and works for peace. But, it will only happen if we work together and if our politicians and leaders have the courage to change. He loves to pass on the advice given to him by a retiring politician; “if you want change, make noise, lots of noise.” 

Michael lives in Dublin, is married and has two wonderful children. On the weekend, you will find him pottering in the back garden listening to one of his favourite podcasts.

Blanche Ellis is an illustrator and graphic recorder who facilitates the flow of ideas by using visuals to capture live conversations and deliver complex ideas in a clear, beautiful and original way. Studies in language, facilitation and fine arts feed into almost a decade of graphic recording experience. She’s worked on projects with The British Council, NHS, The Kings Fund, TEDx, Netflix and The University of Cambridge.

When not wielding the paint brush Blanche can be found humming behind the guitar, or cold-water, winter swimming at dawn.

Go Dance's work is driven by the transformative power of dance to unite people, promote health and bring about meaningful social change. The founder, Karen Aguiar is a dance artist, journalist and community organizer and co-founder, Alessandra Azevedo is a dance and Capoeira facilitator, performance artist and ambassador for (Afro)Brazilian dance & culture in Ireland. By using body movement to promote community building and cultural growth, both Karen and Alessandra have helped establish connections between dance groups, women's groups, as well as migrant & local communities.

Go Dance for Change are a transcultural collective of body movement, sharing culture and inspiring social change through dance. They provide community engagement opportunities to individuals who wish to involve with a fun, diverse and multicultural activity in Ireland. It does this through various dance activities such as workshops, performances, and online & live events to create immersive and engaging experiences.

Their aim is to introduce people in Ireland to the myriad cultures and styles of dance from around the globe as a means of self-expression and as a tool to promote confidence, empowerment, and cultural education. They share dance and appreciation for cultural diversity and promote actions towards social change.

Meet our amazing youth hosts Eve McGann, Patrycja Skydula, and Zara Strafford who together will be presenting our Agents of Change International Youth Summit.

Eve is most passionate about Climate Change and the social injustices that stem from this issue. She gave a TedX talk in the Dun Laoghaire Lexicon in 2018 about the food industry and how what we eat affects the planet. In 2019, during the summer she recited some slam poetry at a Climate March outside the Dáil. She’s also taken part in ECO-UNESCO’s YEA awards and was lucky enough to have a poem published in the Irish Times Fighting Words magazine. She is super excited about the Agents of Change virtual event and thinks it is the perfect opportunity to be inspired into action and poke the flames of change! 

Patrycja is a transition year student in Fingal Community College. She is multilingual, can speak Polish and English fluently, is learning Irish and is getting the Dele diploma for Spanish this year! Patrycja loves to dance, play basketball and skate. She loves to speak in public and is passionate about changing the future for the better.

Zara is a transition year student from Loreto Secondary School. She is the editor of her school newspaper and is involved in all kinds of debating and public speech. Zara is most interested in climate change and gender inequality and hopes for a more fair and equal world one day. When she is not with her friends or volunteering, she can be found on a run, sewing clothes or practicing acrylic nails. Zara has also appeared on Ireland AM to talk about her and her partners business they set up as a part of the Mini Company Programme. 

If you want to find out more about this amazing event contact our wonderful active citizenship team by email at schools@concern.net.