Who we are

Partnering with YOUNG PEOPLE

We’re building a future where young people shape systems and services we can all be proud of.

Our history

IMAGINED FOR IMPACT

YLab was created by the Foundation for Young Australians in 2016 to offer entry-level learning and work opportunities for young people facing employment barriers.

Fast-forward ten years - we’re an independent social enterprise with deep expertise and engaged communities of young people.

Our values

WE DO IT WITH HEART

We foster deep and meaningful relationships with our clients, partners and backers.

Connection

Authenticity

We are genuine and transparent, supported by robust governance and impact measurement practices.

We pioneer new methodologies in co-design and lived experience design work, ensuring fresh and relevant outcomes.

Innovation

Justice

We address inequality and champion accessibility within our organisation and in our work.

Our people

MEET THE TEAM

Director, Partnerships and Projects (she/her)
Roya Azadi is an Iranian-Kiwi innovation and impact leader, speaker and award juror. Roya has worked across the commercial, philanthropic and government sectors as well as with organisations like World Vision, Burnet Institute and the United Nations. Her work has focused on designing products, services and organisations that can be a little more impactful today, than yesterday.
Email: [email protected]

Co-CEO (he/him)
Damon oversees our strategy, team and operations to grow our impactful work with young people. He is committed to building an accessible organisation where young people are meaningfully engaged as contributors and leaders in systems change efforts.
Before joining YLab in 2022, Damon employed this systems thinking to manage large-scale website development projects. In the past, he has also led a team of young creatives to produce Mantra Magazine - a publication aiming to celebrate Western Sydney communities through shared experiences of classism, diaspora and lack of financial resources.
Email: [email protected]

Project Lead (she/her)
Lorraine brings over 9 years of experience working with young people ensuring they have key involvement in systems change, specifically in education, employment and health systems. At YLab, she manages complex projects, engages diverse stakeholders and clients and coaches and trains young people in co-design.
Prior to YLab Lorraine founded a business called Useful Link (2016-2020), that looked at equipping young people with the skills they needed to thrive in the world of work. She is a lover of people, food and nature.
Email: [email protected]

Project Lead (she/her)
Shehelah is passionate about leveraging her experience in community-centred work and research to contribute to positive social change for the young people, communities and organisations that work with YLab.
Prior to YLab, Shehelah gained extensive experience as a Senior Consultant at Impact Co and working with and for marginalised young people. She worked in a student-facing role at an education not-for-profit providing wrap-around support for VCE students facing social and economic barriers to finishing their studies. She was also involved in the development of two Diversity and Equity portfolios.
Email: [email protected]

Senior Studio Manager (she/her)
Ruby is a multidisciplinary designer based in Naarm/Melbourne. As Studio Manager at YLab she leads a team of emerging practitioners to produce creative outcomes through the lens of co-design.
With a background in graphic design, she has a particular interest in artist books and self-publishing.
Ruby has a curiosity about collective practice which informs her collaborative, human-centred design approach.
You’ll usually find her at Idle Time, a shared artist studio space in Brunswick East that she co-founded and manages.
Email: [email protected]

Project Manager (he/they)
James is a Filipino Australian producer, organiser, and strategist based in in Naarm/Melbourne’s West. With a practice grounded in cultural safety, decolonisation, and social justice, they are curious about how arts, education, and community can intersect to create systems change.
James has worked across institutional and community settings, building a portfolio of work that nurtures collective agency, challenges dominant narratives and imagines more equitable futures through creativity and connection.
Email: [email protected]

Co-CEO (she/her)
Imogen is a strategy leader with deep expertise across government, community and philanthropy spaces. She is known for her relational leadership style, bold ideas and ability to navigate complex systems to drive meaningful reform.
Prior to joining YLab, Imogen led the establishment of a peak body representing children and young people - growing it into a trusted voice for the sector in under two years. Her work is grounded in her own lived experience as a young person, and a strong believe that those closest to the problem should shape its solutions.
Email: [email protected]

Guiding our purpose

OUR BOARD

We’ve brought together an intergenerational Board, embedding young and diverse voices to help guide our vision.

Young Co-Chair (she/her) - VIC
Anica has a background in community organising across climate advocacy and political campaigning. She was one of the lead organisers of the ‘School Strike 4 Climate’ movement in Melbourne as a high school student, and an active volunteer with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.
Since then, she has worked in policy research, on election campaigning, and with diverse cohorts of young people at the REACH Foundation in facilitation and program delivery. She is currently a Young Ambassador with UNICEF Australia.
Co-Chair (she/her) - QLD
Leilani is a proud Nunukul Quandamooka woman, and the Owner and Founder of First Nations Co, a community-led Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consulting business.
She is well known for her leadership in suicide prevention and mental health, and has extensive experience with co-design and lived experience consulting.
In addition to our board, Leilani is the current Chair of 13YARN, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre with Black Dog Institute, and a Director on the boards of Mind Australia and One Door.
Young Board Member (she/her) - VIC
Ikram is a young Somali-Australian working within the not-for-profit, media, and youth engagement spaces.
She currently works as a Project Officer at the Centre for Multicultural Youth to facilitate workshops and training sessions, Youth Development and Support Officer at Melton City Council and acts as a Subcommittee member for The Y.
Ikram is a Founder of The Beginning Project, a resource bank for young people by young people, and has previously been a Producer for the ABC.
Young Board Member (she/her) - VIC
Julie is a young Vietnamese-Australian woman who hails from Melbourne’s western suburbs. As a strategy and evaluation consultant, she partners with government, not-for-profit, and international development organisations to drive and amplify their impact to better serve their communities.
Her remit extends globally to Cambodia, where she has supported a child protection NGO to build evidence-based ways of measuring and proving their impact.
A dedicated grassroots advocate, Julie advises the DEWR Local Jobs and Skills Taskforce, the Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY), and Culture Spring, and previously served as a local youth councillor.
Board Member (she/her) - ACT
Elanor is a technology-forward executive with over 15+ years of leadership experience creating strategic, operational and business plans to deliver impact across government, academia, industry and the community.
She is currently an Executive Director at the CSIRO where she leads the enterprise-wide research and development of their digital capability, was previously the Dean and a Professor at the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science and created Australia's first academic Indigenous engineering design studio.
Elanor brings a wealth of governance expertise, having been a foundation Director at Significant Ventures and other for-purpose boards.
Board Member (he/him) - VIC
Ernez is one of Australia's most experienced strategic leaders, boasting over 15 years of expertise in delivering digital transformation initiatives for government, commercial, not-for-profit, and social enterprise organisations - from local to international - across the social, education, health, and mental health sectors.
He has committed his career to understanding how individuals, organisations, and systems can work together for the common good. Ernez specialises in projects that focus on social impact and prioritise the inclusion of lived experiences.
As YLab’s previous Acting CEO, Ernez led our team to design better services, policies, and products in collaboration with young people.
Board Member (he/him) - NSW
James has a passion for building inclusive, fair and self-determining communities and working within research, policy and law reform.
James is currently working as a Senior Advisor at ACOSS, has previously worked as a Strategy Associate at the Paul Ramsay Foundation and founded a pro-bono research service that co-designed and delivered over 50+ research papers within its first two years.
Treasurer (he/him) - VIC
Lloyd is determined to grow the net-benefit of the world and brings over 14-years of experience within finance and governance roles, eight of which are within youth-focused organisations and not-for-profits.
He is the current Finance Manager at Orygen and has previously worked as an Accountant for KPMG and Teletrac Navman, as well as the CFO of Oaktree.
In addition to our board, Lloyd has also acted as a Director at Oaktree and Useful Inc.
Board Member (she/her) - VIC
Telaine is a proud First Nations woman who specialises in engaging the most hard-to-reach communities and adult learning environments, and creating impact through engaging in vulnerable conversations.
Telaine is a Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Advisor to the CEO of The Fred Hollows Foundation, and has spent 13+ years across various leadership roles at the REACH Foundation across community engagement, workshop facilitation, strategy, learning and development, and wellbeing support.

See our work

Our funding

BACKED FOR IMPACT

Our administration costs are covered in part by philanthropic backers who believe in our mission, freeing up project revenue to employ and further the development of young people.

Driving social impact work for Macquarie Group the Foundation supports individuals, businesses, and communities to build a better future. They aim to leverage both financial and non-financial resources to achieve the greatest social impact possible.

Macquarie Group Foundation

Brian M. Davis Foundation

The Brian M. Davis Foundation enables grant partners to effectively and sustainably advance solutions that drive meaningful change, deliver lasting progress and improve the lives of young Australians experiencing disadvantage.

Support us