Storytelling is our most powerful tool.
Maddison O’Gradey-Lee is committed to improving the measurement of mental ill-health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people through her PhD research.
In 2020, she co-founded the Orygen Global Youth Mental Health Fellowship – a six-month program that supports youth advocates with mentorship and education to strengthen the impact of their mental health initiatives, both locally and globally.
Together with Orygen Global, Maddison led one of the largest global youth consultations on mental health. Advocates shared that they felt unsupported and lacked access to training. In response, the Fellowship has gone on to train 76 youth advocates across 42 countries in mental health education, lived experience advocacy and peer support.
More than 21,000 young people have been reached through the program’s direct and indirect impact. Maddison has created a global network working to break down taboos around mental health and was the first person from Oceania to receive the Dalai Lama Peace Fellowship.
Talking Points
Mental Health Advocacy
Maddison has spent over a decade advocating for mental health, she works as a psychologist and is a researcher. Maddison can share her experience across multiple roles in how to advocate for mental health to influence change on an individual level, community level and policy level within Australia and globally
Mental Health Advocacy
Indigenous Mental Health
It is well known that First Nations people experience poorer mental health outcomes, however, the specific experience of First Nations youth has rarely been explored from Indigenous perspectives. Maddison can share information on First Nations youth mental health outcomes, research paradigms and how to work with First Nations communities in culturally safe and valid ways
Indigenous Mental Health
Utilising Lived Experience & Stories in Advocacy
Lived experience and storytelling provide us with rich information about the human experience. Lived experience is often a key motivator for people in the health field wanting to create change. Lived experience has played a significant role in my journey and the journey of many youth I work with. This presentation will discuss how lived experience and stories can shape the directions we take and how to effectively utilise lived experience safely to influence change in communities
Utilising Lived Experience & Stories in Advocacy
Advocacy in Practice as a Young Woman
Being an advocate comes with many challenges, particularly for women. This presentation will discuss the experience of being a young woman in advocacy, the barriers present for young women and how to manage these challenges.
Advocacy in Practice as a Young Woman
How can we Better Support our Young People
Young people often have the solutions to create effective change in their communities but often their voices are excluded from discussions or not valued. Based on 5 years of experience of supporting young people around the world to create and implement solutions to improve mental health, this presentation will discuss how to support young people in your networks to use their experience to create change.
How can we Better Support our Young People
Mental Health & Schools
Schools as a vehicle of support for children and adolescents, how to build psychological resilience in schools.
Mental Health & Schools
Video
2025 NSW Young Australian of the Year Maddison O’Gradey-Lee
Maddison O’Gradey-Lee aims to improve the measurement of mental ill-health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people through her PhD research. In 2020, Maddison co-founded the Orygen Global Youth Mental Health Fellowship, a six-month program providing youth advocates with support, mentorship and education modules to increase the impact of their advocacy projects in their communities and globally.
