Harley inspires young leaders

AFL NSW/ACT General Manager Tom Harley was recently invited to speak at he National Young Leaders Day in Sydney. Watched by over 5500 primary school students and 1100 adults at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Harley kicked off the day encouraging students to “be resilient and be comfortable in your own skin;” when asked by students how he deals with people who bring you down.

Harley said he was impressed by the quality of the questions posed to him by Australia’s next generation of leaders.

“It was such a thrill to have the opportunity to speak to so many of NSW’s young leaders. The crowd of over 6000 was really engaged and the questions that were asked were brilliant. The Halogen foundation do a marvellous job coordinating the event,” he said.

In its 16th year, The National Young Leaders Day is considered one of Australia’s most significant youth leadership events endorsed by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Premier Barry O’Farrell.

Oz Harvest founder Ronni Kahn followed up by sharing her thoughts on how doing a little good deed everyday can make a big difference.

Crowd favourite Anh Do made the students laugh & cry while sharing his life story. He encouraged the students to “Dream BIG dreams – you are capable of more than you think”.

Event host Halogen Foundation’s Executive Director Mike Martin said the event was "a clear demonstration of the diverse forms that leadership can take in our society."

The program’s objective is to be both inspirational and practical leaving students inspired, educated, empowered and connected; enabling them to return to their schools, families and communities with the tools they need to make a difference.

Students are selected by their schools or community groups as possessing leadership potential to attend these events. Some of these students have recently been appointed to leadership positions such as SRC, Prefects and School Captains.

Around 30,000 students attend the National Leaders Day events in Australia each year.

“It’s exciting to think that most of the senior primary school students attending will eventually take on careers that have not even been seen yet” he said

“We hope that every one of these students walks away with a sense of the great good they are capable of doing and using the influence they have over their peers.”