Who tells the story changes the frame: celebrating six years of the Economic Media Centre

Join us in celebrating six years of the Economic Media Centre!

Since launching in 2020, we’ve trained 1,200+ grassroots and lived expertise advocates in media skills and secured thousands of interviews centreing advocates in stories on housing, First Nations justice, tax, disability, gender equality, social security, migration, and more.

We know democracy functions best when diverse voices are represented. And we know policy is only inclusive and able to deliver when it’s shaped by the people it impacts most. In such disruptive times, the Economic Media Centre is more important than ever.

This is an opportunity to learn about how the Economic Media Centre works; the ethics and rigour that underpin our approach, the breadth impact we’re having across a range of social and economic justice issues, and how you can get involved.

Will you join us?

What: An event to celebrate the Economic Media Centre's work and share our plans for the coming years.

Who: Philanthropy and movement friends

Where: For Purpose Hub, Level 4, 454 Queen Street Melbourne

Date: Thursday 29th October, 2026

Time: 5:30pm arrival for a 6:00pm start, concluding by 8:00pm

Speakers:



Alex Kelly
Director, Economic Media Centre

Alex has a background in strategic communications, political organising, speculative futures and documentary filmmaking with expertise in impact producing. Alex was impact producer on The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone, In My Blood it Runs and Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything. Alex is a founding member of impact film company, the Unquiet Collective and a PhD candidate at Adelaide University researching the ethics of collaboration on impact distribution.

Kirsty Albion
CEO, Australian Progress

At the helm of Australian Progress since the pandemic began, Kirsty has led her team to train thousands of social changemakers, convene hundreds of nonprofits and deliver groundbreaking collaborations. Previously, Kirsty served for five years as National Director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, running high-impact campaigns to protect the reef, grow renewable energy and keep fossil fuels in the ground. She grew the organisation three-fold to the largest team focused on climate campaigning in the country. Kirsty has trained more than 10,000 young people in campaigning, communication, organising, and supported the growth of the Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network. Kirsty is the recipient of numerous awards including Young Tasmanian of the Year 2010 and the Prime Minister’s Young Environmentalist of the Year.

More speakers soon to be announced…

About Australian Progress and the Economic Media Centre

Australian Progress builds capacity of organisations and movements to advocate and win. Learn more here: https://www.australianprogress.org.au

The Economic Media Centre trains and supports a community of trusted spokespeople who bring lived expertise and policy solutions to economic debates in mainstream media. Established in 2020 in response to an identified media capacity gap for small civil society organisations, we exist to:

• Ensure the voices of those most affected by economic issues are centred in the media.

• Build the media skills and capacity of staff within small and grassroots organisations.

• Connect journalists with high quality, diverse spokespeople to shift economic policy conversations in mainstream media, in turn shaping public discourse and political decision making in favour of economic fairness.

All our training is provided free of charge thanks to our philanthropy partners: Greater Melbourne Foundation, Reichstein Foundation and E.M. Horton Family Fund, which is part of the Australian Community Foundation Network. 

Learn more about the EMC here: https://www.economicmediacentre.org/