Ash Bolt
A Torquay Indigenous youth mentor is in the running to be crowned Victoria’s Young Australian of the Year.
Keeden Graham was last week announced as one of four nominees for the prestigious award for his work as a mentor for Indigenous youth.
The 22-year-old Yorta-Yorta, Wiradjuri, and Dja Dja Wurrung man said it was “humbling” to be nominated.
“Working in a role where you’re working with young people, you want to know you’re doing the right thing,” he said.
“So to get this recognition from my local community really motivates me to keep going [and] it’s great for the youth I work with to see what you can achieve.”
Keeden is the deputy chief executive of Geelong-based organisation Strong Brother Strong Sister, which mentors young Indigenous people across the region.
The organisation works intensely with youth, mentoring them one-on-one to help them find and build a connection to their community and history.
“Your identity shapes how you see yourself and your value to the community,” Keeden said.
“Not having that sense of identity and not knowing who you are can really break you down.
“Most of the people we work with don’t have that strong connection to their mob or to their history.
“So building that connection is so important. It makes a massive difference to the way these people see their value.”
Keeden said Strong Brother Strong Sister was different in that it was youth-led.
“For us, it’s all about elevating the voices of young people,” he said.
“We’re youth-run, but our programs are led by the young people themselves too.
“We use their passions to drive them to be the best they can be.”
Being not much older than the people he mentors himself, Keeden said he loved the connections he had built with the region’s youth.
“Growing up in Torquay, I felt isolated from my mob and my community,” he said.
“I felt like I had lost a bit of my identity, so I feel like I have been there and I can see a bit of myself in the people I work with.
“When my mate Cormach [Evans] started Strong Brother Strong Sister he asked me if I would be interested in being a mentor.
“I was only 18 and I wasn’t really sure what I had to offer to anyone else, but he just asked me to give it a try.
“I’m glad I did, because I have loved it.
“I love how honest, how creative and how unique the people I work with are.”
Along with his work at Strong Brother Strong Sister, Keeden is also a board member of the Ngarrimili charity, which offers support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses across Victoria.
He is also a member of the Victorian Youth Congress, as well as a former council member of the Youth Council at the Commission for Children and Young People.
Also nominated for the award alongside Keeden are Alex Makes Meals founder Alex Dekker, wildlife conservationist Libby Fisher and Youth Activating Youth co-founder Ahmed Hassan.
Victoria’s Young Australian of the Year, as well as Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year and Local Hero, will be announced at an online ceremony on Wednesday.
The four recipients will then join the other state and territory recipients as national finalists for the national awards announcement ahead of Australia Day.
