NEXT month\u2019s Commerce Ballarat Business Day Out line-up will include former Young Western Australian of the Year Abdullahi Alim as keynote speaker.<\/p>\n
Mr Alim originally arrived in the country as a refugee and has since become the World Economic Forum\u2019s Global Shapers lead across Africa and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recently led a body of work called The Davos Lab, which mobilised upwards of two million people to help develop the world\u2019s first post-pandemic recovery plan that safeguards the futures of young people.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Commonwealth Trust.<\/p>\n
In his BDO presentation, he\u2019ll speak of city living in \u2018the lucky country,\u2019 and the contrasting emotions he experienced when he first arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuck felt incredibly distant, growing into my adolescent years as a first-generation Australian,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cBig cities become big cities because they thrive off the talent and opportunities afforded to a wide net of their population.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Business Day Out will bring Mr Alim to Ballarat for the first time and he said he\u2019s excited to explore the area, meet the community and local businesspeople, and get to know their dreams and aspirations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI absolutely love the Business Day Out concept, and the idea of a city engaged in deep thought and action about its future, whether that\u2019s through business, government, or community development.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n