New South Wales South – Wollongong

Ariel has over a decade of experience working with young people as a social worker, providing psychosocial support and interventions to some of Australia’s most vulnerable people; developing trauma-informed intake processes at a crisis centre for homeless youth in Melbourne, case management and advocacy for vulnerable women in the inner city of Sydney, and more recently designing and delivering resilience-focused psycho-educational programs to disadvantaged young people in high schools across Western Sydney. Ariel holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Sydney and was awarded First Class Honours for her original research on Youth Participation and Citizenship. This research is what sparked her passion for the power of young people as active citizens.

I am passionate about High Resolves because…

Young people have the greatest potential to be agents of social change. Our programs are engaging, evidence-based, cutting edge, and position young people to really make a difference in the world.

During her time as an English teacher, Marlina’s passion to empower and inspire young people to be positive leaders in the community and globally saw her develop and implement new educational programs and initiatives that increased student involvement and engagement in understanding social issues. She participated in the Make Poverty History Campaign in NSW, which involved meeting with ministers at Parliament House on the issue of foreign aid. Her experiences in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East further fueled her desire to see students become global leaders and citizens who are motivated to make a positive difference, which led her to High Resolves. She completed a Bachelor of Secondary Teaching (Double English major) at the University of Technology Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts (English Literature and History) at the University of Wollongong where she also undertook a 3-year leadership program, delivering a number of projects for social action, development and change in the University and community.

I am passionate about High Resolves because…
What we do is for the greater good. Seeing that achieved by empowering young people to be global citizens is inspiring and exciting.