Kira James, a UWA Communications and Media student, spent 100 hours of her summer break supporting No Place for Poverty’s advocacy work.
“I wanted to take a summer unit, and gravitated towards the McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship program because it was an opportunity to grow my own skills as well as contribute to the community,” Kira said.
“My role as the Youth Channel Intern for No Place for Poverty gave me responsibility to keep up youth-focussed social media channels, including a TikTok account that had no posts when I began.
“I spent lots of time crafting a perspective that would be appealing to adolescents and young people while communicating key information regarding the state of poverty in Western Australia, where one in eight people are living in poverty, along with other challenging social issues.”
Alex Hughes, No Place for Poverty Lead, said Kira had brought something new to the table with her communications skills.
“Kira is a passionate and creative person. Her drive to succeed and ensure her efforts move our goals forward was evident. By drawing on modern communication styles, and researching best engagement practices, Kira was able to increase our viewership to a younger audience. She was a pleasure to work with,” Mr Hughes said.
Kira said the internship had given her a chance to engage in meaningful work while giving her valuable experience for her professional future.
“No Place for Poverty’s goal is to create policy change, namely the creation of a standardised poverty line in Australia so poverty can be measured properly and then addressed, including through raising unemployment benefits, which are far below all known measures of poverty.
“My role was to help gain public attention to these issues. Movements for change are strongest when they can move without those who started them, so communications are crucial. I feel the work I did building a platform to generate buzz will have long-term benefits and may help influence government to act.
“I had found it difficult to take volunteer opportunities with my busy work and university schedule, however the McCusker Centre program is well supported and planned and took a lot of the pressure off, leaving room for me to focus on the work involved in my internship role. The internship gave me my first glimpse of an office environment and taught me about standards of professionalism; there is no substitute for hands-on experience, and it was great to contribute to work that benefitted the community rather than pursuing profit.”