UTS International Women's Day 2026
Description
The Young and Relentless: Gen Z leading change
Can young women wield influence in places of power?
This International Women’s Day, we spotlight young women leaders who are claiming their seats at tables of policy, public institutions, and community – spaces that have excluded their voices for too long.
These trailblazers are challenging systems, amplifying underrepresented voices, and redefining what leadership looks like for the next generation.
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Hannah Ferguson, Satara Uthayakumaran, Vivian Pham, Anjali Sharma and Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis (moderator) on how they navigate barriers and success of their work, as we celebrate the power of youth-led social change and impact.
UTS International Women's Day will also be live-streamed, so you have the option to attend in-person or tune in online!
Speakers
Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis (moderator)
Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis is a health and social researcher and fierce community advocate. She currently serves as National Ambassador for Plan International Australia and Vice Chair of African Women Australia. Angelica is a PhD Candidate and manages the Future Healthy Countdown 2030 at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, a national initiative bringing together academics, policymakers, and young people to drive accountability for child and youth wellbeing.
Hannah Ferguson
Hannah Ferguson is at the forefront of the Australian media industry, and she's doing it differently! As the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cheek Media Co. she's driving change in Australian media by encouraging people to be informed and engaged over disinterested and detached. The independent news commentary platform provides informed, progressive opinions on subjects that sit at the intersection of feminist, social, and political issues.
Satara Uthayakumaran
Satara Uthayakumaran is a legal and social reform advocate was Australia’s Youth Representative to the United Nations for 2025. She serves on the ABC’s Youth Advisory Council, was a National Youth Advisor for Amnesty International, and has worked with the ACT Human Rights Commission. Satara also served as the youngest board member of the Domestic Violence Crisis Service. In 2024, she was named a Young Woman to Watch in International Affairs.
Vivian Pham
Vivian Pham is a Vietnamese writer, author of The Coconut Children, and educator from southwestern Sydney. In 2021, she won the Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist Award and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year. Vivian sits on the Literature and Writing Panel of the Artform Board of Create NSW and is the youngest person ever appointed to the board of the State Library of NSW.
Anjali Sharma
Anjali Sharma (she/her) is 21 years old. At 16, she became the lead litigant of Sharma vs Environment Minister, a class action legal case which argued that the Environment Minister owes all young people a duty of care to protect them from the impacts of climate change. She now campaigns for this duty to be legislated through Parliament, campaigning for parliamentary accountability for the disproportionate impacts of climate change in relation to young people and future generations.
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