A 15-year-old, with ambitions of making millions online, last Saturday said to his mum, “I can do this from Yeppoon.” Prior to this he was convinced he would have to move south on finishing his secondary schooling. What changed? Last week on Wednesday there was a session on building apps, Thursday was the inaugural Young Change Agents regional pitch night, Friday a master class on Communities Leading Change, Friday night the 47-hour GovHack started, Saturday morning the guest presenter from the Communities Leading Change master class met interested youth at the Rockhampton Grammar School, Sunday afternoon 5 GovHack pitches were made. This all happened here in our region. Our region, that last year won the most state and national GovHack awards in regional Australia. Change is happening, enough for a local 15-year-old to rethink his post school plans. He attended the YCA pitch night as a participant, then spent most of his (and his Mum’s) weekend at the Smarthub Rockhampton with another team creating a geo-centric computer game that uses government data on natural disasters to entertainingly educate youth how to prepare for and react in a natural disaster that could actually occur in the region where the game is played. This 15-year-old became more aware of a community, that through the holding and promoting of events like GovHack, is growing, both in size and in what they believe they can achieve. Imagine what would happen if more people were aware of what is happening, quicker. At the Communities Leading Change master-class, led by American, Paul Schmitz, who was a homeless youth known to police but went on to work in the Whitehouse during Obama’s Presidential administration on community solutions, he identified the necessity of involving the beneficiaries in community planning for the best chance of success. When we think of beneficiaries, we possibly think only of the disadvantaged; be it economically or their physical and mental health. But really, we all are beneficiaries, yet many of us don’t get involved even if invited. There are many reasons for this, one, a feeling of not being treated as an equal in the discussions with more educated and/or wealthier persons. Becoming only a token symbol of engaging ‘beneficiaries’ should one accept. Thus, with the slow change that arguably is happening in our region, where our youth start to feel they may not have to leave to realise their dreams and start their own enterprises here; employing locals, spending local, inspiring locals, we need to look at how more, in this case, youth can not only get involved, but be empowered to participate as equals, expediting and strengthening this desirable change. Can one of the outcomes from the Communities Leading Change master-class therefore be effectively involving our youth in our region’s cultural change planning? It would need the local education sector to be involved, local government, relevant local community organisations and most importantly local youth. Who steps up to lead this change? It doesn’t have to be just one – Everyone Leads! There are some youth already prepared to step up, pitching on Thursday night a solution to how local councils can better engage with youth. They like many of the other youth who participated at the YCA Regional Pitch night were very passionate about implementing their solutions to community issues. The ingredients are all there, including hopefully a willingness from those who can make it happen quicker. Let’s get some real momentum happening.