Andy brings his extensive experience with young people to transform schools, families and organisations to create thriving young leaders through wellbeing.

About Andy

CEO BURN BRIGHT AUSTRALIA | SPEAKER | CONSULTANT | WRITER | YOUNG PEOPLE CHAMPION

Andy is passionate about equipping young people to grow as leaders by taking a wellbeing approach and fostering and growing positive, intentional, meaningful relationships. Andy's vision is to build community so young people are known and loved.

When he was 21 he founded the Not For Profit, social enterprise Burn Bright. Burn Bright partners with schools to deliver student leadership, wellbeing programs and national camps. Andy has the privilege of leading a team of committed people who carry out their mission of igniting young people's potential in schools across Australia. Burn Bright is a 'relationships first' organisation where relationships within the team and the community are placed with greatest importance above anything they do.

Andy has seen first hand the effect that impactful leadership through positive friendships and connections have on the wellbeing of young people through greater connectedness and having a support network.

Out of all the variables relationships have the greatest impact on a young persons wellbeing.

Andy is actively involved in the National Student Leadership Forum hosted by Australia's federal politicians in Canberra annually. He graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Arts-Media, and actively seeks to further understand the dynamics of effective communication interpersonally and across communities and our society. With a major in digital and online spaces, Andy is highly capable in understanding social networks and the intricacies of online environments and the role they play within our relationships.

Andy is passionate about his local community, spending most of his life coaching junior hockey teams and fulfilling leadership roles within his local hockey club. He also holds leadership positions within his local State Emergency Service unit.

Andy has spoken at prominent events such as the National Leadership Camp, The Newcastle Lord Mayors Student Leadership Forum, The National Student Leadership Forum

Burn Bright Is Named As Australia’s Most Innovative Not For Profit Organisation

Burn Bright has just been announced by the 2018 GiveEasy Innovation Index as the Number One Not-For-Profit Innovator in Australia as a result of their influential leadership, wellbeing programs and national camps for young people. Burn Bright finished in the top place ahead of other charities such as Thankyou, beyondblue and the Movember Foundation. The 2018 Innovation index is supported by Westpac, the University of New South Wales and eWAY.

Burn Bright delivers Student Leadership, Wellbeing Programs and National Camps for schools and young people across Australia, working with over 15,000 students each year.

Burn Bright CEO, Andy Skidmore says that innovation is the only way forward when working with teenagers, “Young people are constantly pushing the edge of what’s new and interesting - it forces us to stay innovative. The way we deliver our leadership programs has to be relevant, cutting edge and interesting.”

Andy says, “For us it’s important that if we’re going to go to a school and we’re going to talk about great relationships, looking after your wellbeing, being able to serve others and thinking about your leadership capacity, then that needs to start with our team.”

PUTTING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS AT THE CENTRE OF YOUNG PEOPLE'S WELLBEING

A Snapshot Of Young People Today

Young people or GEN Z: Storytellers, entrepreneurs, see technology as synonymous with the world, the true digital natives, born to pinch a swipe, the mini-makers, they are ALONE TOGETHER.

Gen Z is the generation born in 1995 and beyond often referred to as the true digital natives. In 2017 Gen Z enters the workforce and they bring with them a whole new way of looking at the world, interacting with each other and face unique issues compared to generations who have gone before them.

Andy has worked alongside Gen Z since they started high school and has been able to interact with a broad cross section of this generation to really discover who they are, what they are interested in and how they engage with the wider world.

Gen Z has grown up in a new era of schooling. Schools have placed the emphasis back on the student and ‘flipped the classroom’ asking students to collaborate and generate new ideas together. They have been asked to solve real world problems in their classroom and see teachers as their co-collaborators.

Their synonymity with technology is seamless, they have the unique ability of using 5 screens at once, they are designers, builders and large scale consumers of digital content. They are storytellers and story consumers of digital.

Whilst they may seem more connected than generations that have gone before the studies and conversations we have with this generation is they lack the ability to build meaningful friendships and relationships. They are most worried about mental health when it comes to themselves and their peers. We know they lack the coping mechanisms required to deal with adversity and challenges.

BUILDING WELLBEING THROUGH COMMUNITY

Burn Bright

Burn Bright is a for-purpose, not-for-profit organisation that delivers, student leadership, wellbeing programs and national camps. Burn Bright builds and fosters community to engage and empower young people to help them create a positive foundation for their lives.

Through dynamic engagement, facilitation and constructive relationships, Burn Bright seeks to take young people from surviving to thriving. This is achieved by helping them to understand the capacity and potential they have in making change within their own lives and the lives of those around them.

Burn Bright runs a range of leadership and character building programs that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of the schools they partner with. These programs are run with primary and high schools from year 5 to year 12 across Australia. Our programs are active and experiential which leads to a dynamic engage throughout the day.

Burn Bright has the privilege of hosting The Australian National National Leadership Camp. The National Leadership Camp (NLC) runs every year in the July school holidays in Sydney. In 2019 it will be the 15th time NLC has been run. NLC brings together over 120 high school students from year 10 to 12 over 4 days to explore who they are as leaders and to develop and grow their capacity to serve others and their local communities in a fun and engaging way.

Find out more at www.burnbright.org.au

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