Young leader heads Business Day Out

NEXT month’s Commerce Ballarat Business Day Out line-up will include former Young Western Australian of the Year Abdullahi Alim as keynote speaker.

Mr Alim originally arrived in the country as a refugee and has since become the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers lead across Africa and the Middle East.

“In essence, we are a community of about 14,000 young changemakers around the world who form teams of about 20 in different cities, towns and villages around the world, and help create local solutions to challenges ranging from education to climate change,” he said.

“I recently led a body of work called The Davos Lab, which mobilised upwards of two million people to help develop the world’s first post-pandemic recovery plan that safeguards the futures of young people.”

In 2017, Mr Alim visited Buckingham Palace to receive a Young Leaders Award from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and he is currently on the board of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.

In his BDO presentation, he’ll speak of city living in ‘the lucky country,’ and the contrasting emotions he experienced when he first arrived.

“Luck felt incredibly distant, growing into my adolescent years as a first-generation Australian,” he said.

“I hope my talk will build on the lessons learnt from Australians like myself who grew up in the cities and the things we can do to make smaller cities like Ballarat represent the best of modern Australia.

“Big cities become big cities because they thrive off the talent and opportunities afforded to a wide net of their population.

“It’s incredibly important for Ballarat to remain a competitive city, and not endure the type of brain drain that was prevalent, particularly before the pandemic, as residents, particularly youth, venture elsewhere.”

This year’s Business Day Out will bring Mr Alim to Ballarat for the first time and he said he’s excited to explore the area, meet the community and local businesspeople, and get to know their dreams and aspirations.

“I absolutely love the Business Day Out concept, and the idea of a city engaged in deep thought and action about its future, whether that’s through business, government, or community development.

“It’s so important to create touchpoints for folks to bounce ideas by one another and ultimately come to the most efficient businesses and models of communal development.”

Visit bit.ly/3JZEo0y for tickets to Business Day Out on Wednesday, 25 May.