Youth leadership in Australia is experiencing a quiet but profound transformation. As global systems strain under the weight of escalating complexity — what many now describe as a “polycrisis” — young Australians are not simply observing from the sidelines. They are stepping forward with clarity, conviction, and purpose. Few organisations embody this shift more powerfully than Global Voices, a youth-led not-for-profit dedicated to equipping emerging leaders with the policy, diplomacy, and systems-thinking skills needed to shape Australia’s future.
This month, Global Voices enters a new chapter. After an extraordinary period of growth and impact, Elly Hanrahan has stepped down as CEO, with Indigo (Indi) Atkinson appointed as her successor. Together, their leadership journeys reflect the evolving nature of youth leadership — grounded in humility, courage, lived experience, and purpose in action.
To mark this moment, the two sat down for a candid conversation about what they’ve learned, what gives them hope, and what they believe young leaders need most right now.
Reflecting on a Leadership Legacy
Elly’s tenure as CEO has been defined by both bold strategic decisions and the relentless dedication of a volunteer-led executive team. Under her leadership, Global Voices expanded its international delegations — adding the World Food Forum, AI for Good and UN General Assembly offerings — while navigating a sudden funding shock and achieving the organisation’s highest fundraising year on record.
Yet for Elly, the metrics matter far less than the people behind them.
Her own journey began with a life-changing opportunity: representing Australia at COP27. The experience reset her understanding of what was possible — and ignited her commitment to paying that opportunity forward.
“All of a sudden, I saw myself as a completely different person… From that moment I was all in on Global Voices.”
Her leadership has since opened the door for hundreds of young Australians to see themselves as contributors, negotiators, policymakers, and changemakers in global forums.
Stepping Into the Future: Indi Atkinson’s Vision
For Indi, the transition into the CEO role has been both energising and emblematic of what Global Voices stands for.
“It has been a really exciting time to step up,” she said. “There is no Global Voices without our incredible executive team.”
Her journey — one that started on commercial fishing boats in New Zealand before moving into international relations — mirrors a truth many young people share: leadership rarely follows a straight line. Instead, it emerges from curiosity, grit, and the willingness to step into unfamiliar spaces.
Indi’s vision for the organisation is driven by urgency and opportunity. She sees the multilateral system under pressure, but not beyond repair. What matters is equipping young Australians with the tools to navigate, influence, and ultimately reshape it.
“Understanding how to navigate the domestic policy landscape and speak the language of multilateral institutions is a matter of existential importance,” she noted.
In the years ahead, her priorities include expanding the Fellowship program, increasing diversity of participation, amplifying youth policy ideas at national and global levels, and launching a Global Voices podcast in 2026.
Purpose in Action: What Young Leaders Need Now
Both Elly and Indi share a belief that young Australians are hungry for purpose — and acutely aware of the systems that shape their lives.
Young leaders today bring energy, bravery, and long-term thinking. But they are also navigating widespread cynicism, driven not by apathy but by a deep belief that the world should live up to its ideals.
“If we aren’t given the opportunities to practise leadership early and often, we can’t say we’ve set young people up for success,” Indi observed.
Their advice to emerging leaders is simple: Demand better. Start now. And act with purpose, not perfection. Volunteering, they argue, remains one of the most powerful and accessible pathways into leadership — a space where capability, confidence, and conviction are forged.
A Partnership for National Impact
The Menzies Leadership Foundation is proud to stand alongside Global Voices as a strategic partner during this transition and beyond. Our shared mission — enabling young people to step into complexity with courage, capability, and purpose — reflects a deep belief in the leadership potential of the next generation.
In a time of rising complexity, democratic uncertainty, and urgent social and environmental challenges, developing the leadership capability of young Australians is not optional. It is nationally significant work.
Through continued collaboration — including the joint Menzies Leadership Podcast, shared thought leadership, and investment in the Fellowship program — we are committed to supporting young Australians not only to understand the world they are inheriting, but to shape it.
As Indi puts it: “I think it’s time to get to work and start doing what needs to be done to move the needle toward a more perfect world.”
With a strengthened partnership, a renewed vision, and a new generation stepping forward, the future of youth leadership in Australia is bright, determined, and driven by purpose in action.
Continue the Conversation: Purpose in Action — Redefining Leadership for the 21st Century
Launching February 2026
In a time of fractured trust, social division, and deep systemic change, leadership is being redefined. Today’s emerging leaders are not motivated by status or power — but by purpose. By the desire to act with clarity, courage, and conviction in service of something greater than themselves.
Hosted by Elly Hanrahan and Indigo Atkinson of Global Voices, this five-part Menzies Leadership Forum series explores the inner journey of leadership — where purpose begins, how it is tested, and how it becomes lived practice in the real world.
Through intimate conversations with some of Australia’s most inspiring leaders, Purpose in Action delves into how identity, experience, and values shape our ‘why,’ and how aligning purpose with action can transform individuals, organisations, and communities.
Listeners will encounter stories of reckoning and resilience, moments of courage and conviction, and the daily practices that sustain purposeful leadership through challenge and change. This is leadership not as performance — but as a lifelong practice.
→ Follow the Menzies Leadership Foundation to be first to hear the Purpose in Action series when it drops in February.
→ Explore more from the Menzies Leadership Forum and our vision for reimagining leadership for the 21st century.
At the Menzies Leadership Foundation, we believe the future of youth leadership is shaped in practice — in the moments where young people step into complexity and act with purpose.
Elly and Indi’s journeys reflect this shift: leadership grounded in service, strengthened through community, and driven by national impact.
As Global Voices enters a new chapter, we’re proud to support their mission and expand the pathways that help emerging leaders develop clarity, courage, and capability.
If you want to follow this work and stay connected to Australia’s emerging leadership landscape, sign up to the Menzies Leadership Foundation newsletter.
