Nicole Spurrier is a woman with a voice, and the Youth Community Citizenship Award winner is using it to elevate the issues and concerns of her peers through a unique online platform – Voice: Speak Up & Speak Out.
Having recently graduated from Kelmscott Senior High School, Nicole is looking forward to university, and it isn’t just the study she’s excited about.
“This year I’m hoping to create a university club for Voice and get Voice out in the community – do community events and let young people know they’re not alone in trying to advocate for things,” said Ms Spurrier.
Voice is an online platform for discussion and advocacy around youth issues, created by Nicole last year.
“So many issues, like sexual assault, domestic violence and mental health, just aren’t spoken about,” said Nicole.
“We were talking about the movie Moxie which had just come out at that time, about young people in a school who band together and advocate for equality,” she said.
The conversations sparked an idea in Nicole’s mind, and she began making moves.
“It was very difficult to do, with it being such a sensitive topic, so that led me to start the Instagram account which allowed me to reach people and the whole point of it was just to educate and give people a voice,” she said.
“So many people my age open Instagram in the morning and start scrolling and I thought, if there’s education material on Instagram then people are more likely to learn than they are via other means,” said Nicole.
Staff at Ms Spurrier’s former high school said Nicole was one to watch, and that she was a natural leader.
“What we see is a very mature person with a moral compass we don’t often see, and the drive and intelligence to create change,” said Kelmscott SHS Student Services Manager Fran Marcotrigiano.
“She’s very, very deserving of her award,” said Fran.
“I look forward to seeing her take positions of leadership in our society because I think that’s where she’s going, and I’m going to be watching,” she said.
“She’s definitely someone to watch for in the future.”
Ms Spurrier has already shown her leadership qualities, having worked as a Student Councillor to advocate for peer issues throughout her high school career.
“I feel hopeful a lot of the time when see other young people, what they’re posting online and what they’re advocating for, I feel very empowered by that,” said Nicole.
You can find Voice: Speak Up & Speak Out at instagram.com/voice.speakupspeakout
