Yarra’s Youth Ambassadors, a group of motivated and creative young leaders, will launch their I Live Bigger Than Your Labels campaign during Victorian Youth Week (13-22 April).

I Live Bigger Than Your Labels uses street posters and social media to break down and challenge stereotypes that young people are often labelled with.

Youth Ambassadors will candidly share their own experiences of being stereotyped and aim to engage others to share their stories at events or online.  

Yarra Mayor Cr Daniel Nguyen says that Yarra’s youth are passionate about making a difference and influencing positive social change.

‘Our Youth Ambassadors are working to give a voice to the underrepresented young people in our local community.

‘It’s great to see them standing up and taking the lead on issues that affect them and many of their peers,’ said Cr Nguyen.  

Youth Ambassador Nakier Deng, 19, says ‘The aims of this campaign have been to uplift other young people who may have experienced being labelled to share their stories.

‘This is an important issue because when someone is stereotyped it prevents them from achieving things, they are put in a situation where they doubt themselves and are stopped from being creative.

‘It is important to me because I have experienced people putting labels on me that drift me away from working towards my passions,’ said Nakier.

21 year old Ror Akot says ‘It is important because if we don’t change the situation its going to continue and things are going to get worse.

‘We have got to make a safe environment for the next generation for when they grow up. We need to change the cycle because it feels like sometimes we are going backwards,’ he said.

The campaign will be officially launched at Yarra Youth Services’ Block Party on Friday 20 April from 4pm to 8pm at the Yarra Youth Centre (156 Napier Street, Fitzroy).

Along with the launch there will be live music and DJs, amazing food, activities, workshops, competitions and more.

Block party is a free event open to young people aged 12 to 25.