Episode #7

Jan Owen (AM Hon DLitt)

Change: The Word ‘Education’

Is the biggest problem with education the word ‘education’? Social entrepreneur and CEO of the Foundation of Young Australians Jan Owen wants to change the way we talk and think about what it means to learn in our rapidly changing world.

Share video

Guest Profile

Jan Owen (AM Hon DLitt)

CEO, The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA)

Location: Melbourne Australia

ABOUT JAN

Jan Owen is a social entrepreneur, innovator, influencer and author.

As CEO of the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) for the past 8 years, Jan has led the organisation’s strategic mission to equip young people to create, lead and thrive into the future. This focus has included groundbreaking research regarding the future of work and education for young Australians; the largest in-school entrepreneurship and youth social enterprise programs in the nation; and the development and launch of several new initiatives including YLab, FYA’s youth-led social enterprise.

Jan’s lifelong work and commitment to unleashing the talent of young people, driving social innovation and entrepreneurship, and transforming education has seen her recognised as one of Australia’s ‘True Leaders’ in 2018 and the Inaugural Australian Financial Review and Westpac ‘Woman of Influence’ in 2012.

Jan has been awarded honorary Doctorates from the University of Sydney and Murdoch University in Perth and membership to the Order of Australia in 2000 for services to the Australian community. She is also the author of Every Childhood Lasts a Lifetime (1996) and The Future Chasers (2014).

ABOUT FYA:

The Foundation for Young Australians is a national organisation dedicated to all young people in Australia.

Their mission is to create change with generations of young Australians, giving them the tools, knowledge and support they need to navigate their world. FYA produces social and economic research to drive a national dialogue regarding young people and their futures. Research and evidence are at the core of their program design, delivery and systems change work.

FYA supports all Australians to develop a new mindset about young people and their capacity to design the systems, policies and communities of the future. It aims to be the place Australians go when they want to know what young people around the country are thinking, feeling and talking about.

Find out more at fya.org.au