We were delighted to be joined by the following speakers, who shared their knowledge on a variety of topics including abolition, political educaiton, protest, grassroots organising and online spaces.
Ellen Morrison-Smith - DPAC National Steering Group
Ellen is a member of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC). Having experienced the power of relationship building at protests, she spoke about how important access to protest and mentorship is when involving young people in our movement.
Freya Viles - Young Pioneer at Wiltshire CIL
Freya is a Young Pioneer at Wiltshire CIL. As a trans Disabled young woman, she talked about the importance of intersectionality when trying to involve young people in campaigning – particularly focusing on how Disabled people may have various different identities, but support structures often resistric us or only view us through the lens of Disabled.
Jerry - No More Exclusions
No More Exclusions (NME) is a Black-led and community-based abolitionist grassroots coalition movement. Jerry, who spoke as a youth worker and representative of NME, discussed the importance of political education - ensuring that our engagement provides a framework for justice and develops young people’s understanding of our movement and its history and aims.
Meg Thomas - Local campaigner, UK CRDP Coalition
Meg is a local activist, with lots of experience campaigning in her local community in Wales. She also supports the coordination of the UK CRDP Coalition. Meg spoke about the importance of local community, and how we bridge the gap between local and national mobilisation to meet our common aims.
Maia - @barbie_advocates on TikTok and BlueSky
Maia is an Intersectional Accessibility and Inclusion Specialist, who campaigns for intersectional equity and the furthering of civil rights on her TikTok account. Maia spoke about engaging Disabled people with campaigns and activism using social media as a vehicle for community and social change. She presented a perspective on dispelling myths about digital community, suggesting ways that disability rights orgs can collaborate with online communities to progress disability rights.
After some excellent speeches, we went into break-out rooms with participants, each discussing ways we can improve support for young campaigners. It was an enriching conversation that was all the more beneficial because so many participants had campaigning and activism backgrounds, with lots of knowledge to share. Thank you to everyone who came for your excellent insights!
Watch the full speeches down below!