- Alexandra Whitwam - Youth and Community Engagement Senior Manager, Telstra Foundation
Recently we were proud to host part of the E3 Unconference (Entrepreneurial Educators Exchange) at the Telstra Customer Insight Centre in Sydney, together with our long-standing partner (TAG) Young Change Agents.
E3 brings together education leaders, young people, industry and edtech startups from across Australia – alongside special guests from New Zealand and Nepal – the energy in the room was a powerful reminder of what’s possible when educators come together to connect, share and lead.
Since 2017, Telstra Foundation has partnered with Young Change Agents to bring to classrooms learning that’s practical, entrepreneurial and grounded in real-world skills. And today through their Digital Boss program, that work is reaching 1760 schools (70 schools sponsored by Telstra Foundation) across Australia, bringing future-ready learning in a way that’s engaging, relevant and accessible.
At E3, we also saw the impact of youth-led learning in action through showing the Digital Boss YouTube series featuring Seb and Kiana stepping through the program in real time. One genuinely “star-struck” teacher after meeting Seb in person said:
We’ve been running the Digital Boss program and absolutely love the Seb & Kiana video series. It makes it so accessible having a young person demonstrate and bring an authentic approach to a task, rather than a teacher describing it from an adult’s perspective.
- E3 Unconference participant
We were also proud to showcase hands-on sessions from three of our partners, giving educators practical tools and ideas to take back to their classrooms:
- Code Club Australia inspired participants to prototype AI-enabled solutions to real-world challenges like ocean pollution, while exploring concepts like deepfakes through creative play. With a nationwide network of over 2,000 volunteer-led clubs, schools could also consider how the free-to-access resources and challenges could be impactful in their local context.
- Orygen Digital guided attendees through validation exercises turning educators into problem-solvers for how school students might better access digital mental health support like their app “MOST”, which delivers evidence-based therapy activities and practical strategies that can help with anxiety, depression, social skills, sleep, body image and health system navigation.
- WorkVentures unpacked how social enterprises can tackle digital inclusion while creating sustainable impact – giving educators a real-world example of social enterprise to use in the classroom
A big thank you to Young Change Agents, our community partners, and everyone who joined us to learn, share and collaborate.
Find out more about the Digital Boss program.
