Young leaders from across the Hunter region took charge of their own development on Friday, November 21, 2025, as they organised and hosted a groundbreaking student leadership summit at Newcastle City Hall.
Students Take the Reins
The Global Leadership Network student summit saw Hunter Christian School students planning, producing and hosting the entire event, featuring speakers from among their peers and various community agencies. The initiative expanded to include students from several other Hunter schools, all engaging in leadership training, mock scenarios and thought experiments designed to build practical skills.
Rachel De Giogio, Hunter Christian School's community engagement director, described the event as "TED but by, and for, students" - highlighting the peer-driven nature of the program that puts young people in control of their learning experience.
Learning Through Leading
Principal Dr Simon Herd emphasised the importance of hands-on leadership experience that extends beyond traditional curriculum boundaries. "Our young people are learning how to lead by leading," Dr Herd explained. "We can learn theory but until we actually get our hands dirty, we're not getting a real understanding of what leadership is about."
The principal noted that true leadership often involves unseen hard work rather than just recognition. "For too many people, it is about the shiny badge, the big title, the flashy car and the toys, but they don't want to do the hard work that nobody sees," he observed.
Year 11 student Alfreda Momoh, who participated in last year's summit, returned with greater involvement this year. "It was such an important thing," she said. "It's a different opportunity for me to step up and share how I can be a leader."
Building Collaborative Skills
Fellow student leader Xanthe Collier, a Year 10 student at Hunter Christian School, highlighted the teamwork involved in organising the summit. "It shows how much work goes into hosting something like this," she said. "And how much we all had to work as a team and how much everyone has to contribute."
The event's success follows last year's summit, which resulted in a delegation of Hunter students attending the program's international leg in Chicago - marking the first time student leaders from outside the United States had participated.
John Robertson, CEO of the Global Leadership Network in Australia and New Zealand, stressed the importance of developing both skills and character in young leaders. "How do you relate in a collaborative way and work together on something with someone you've never met before?" he asked. "It takes that ability that our world needs right now - people who are willing to serve and to be inclusive."
The summit demonstrated that when given the opportunity, students can rise to significant challenges and develop the leadership qualities needed to address what Dr Herd described as "wicked problems" facing their generation.
