Taylor Dee Hawkins
Thought Leadership on Intergenerational Equity & Future-Focused Leadership
Profile
Taylor Dee Hawkins is Managing Director of Foundations for Tomorrow, a non-partisan NFP with the mission of future-proofing Australia’s interests and advancing the consideration of the interests of future generations in government and industry decision-making.
In 2021, Foundations for Tomorrow conducted Australia’s largest consultation run by and for youth, to identify the requirements to create a more just, equitable and sustainable future.
Current Work:
Taylor also runs her own strategic consultancy and leadership development business, Future Frontiers Group. As an experienced speaker and facilitator, Taylor has designed and delivered leadership development programs for international organisations such as Ernst and Young, Google, CSIRO, Salesforce and Adidas, was recognised in Smart Company’s 30 under 30 and has been trained by former US Vice President Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader.
Taylor also holds several leadership roles within the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, including sitting on the Global Advisory Council for the 13,000+ community, being a member of The Davos Lab Taskforce, co-leading the Next Generation ESG pillar, and sitting on the Board of Directors for the Global Shapers Community Australia Ltd. She has also been invited as one of 50 young leaders to attend the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in 2022.
Taylor has been recognised in Smart Company’s 30 under 30 and as a ‘Young Woman to Watch in International Affairs’, is a Foundation for Young Australians Young Social Pioneer, is part of the Australia-ASEAN Emerging Leaders Program, is a Non-Executive Director for High Resolves Australia and has been trained by former US Vice President Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader.
Taylor represented DFAT’s Australian Youth for International Climate Engagement working group at COP26 in Glasgow and will also be attending Stockholm+50 to deliver the outputs of a leadership accelerator that was developed with the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales.
Media
Feedback
I invited Taylor to facilitate an interactive dialogue between world-class CEOs (members of the CEO Climate Alliance) and members of several global youth communities (including the Global Shapers Community) at COP26 in Glasgow which took place in November 2021. The objective was to bring these groups together to increase mutual understanding and open doors for collaboration on climate action.
At the front of the room, Taylor is comfortable and her facilitation style is professional and accessible. She expertly manoeuvres the topics and tensions while using her personality to put participants at ease. She’s a magnet for attention and respect, which she returns in multiples. Taylor is a competent, confident and well informed speaker, a thoughtful listener and a charismatic individual with the capacity to inspire, mobilize and organize others. A pleasure to work with, Taylor made coordination a breeze - even across a 10 hour time difference. She’s wildly efficient, puts her full mind and heart to the task, and is extremely considerate. I have full trust in her abilities and can’t wait to invite her back.
Taylor presented a workshop to members of my cohort in late 2021. Despite there being a range of ages, she created a welcoming environment where all felt comfortable to participate. She is a calm and passionate presenter, speaking confidently to her content. Taylor struck the perfect balance between lecture style content and tailored activities that met the cohort where they were at, giving practical and tangible learnings which the participants continued to use after the session.
In the lead up, Taylor was organised, easy to communicate with and all around delightful. I would love to work with her again, and couldnt recommend her more highly.
After a recommendation from a senior leader in financial services, Taylor was invited to speak as the keynote speaker at The Banking and Finance Oath’s (The BFO) Young Ambassador Awards evening in June 2021. Taylor was invited to speak about the role young people can play in driving positive change, thus contributing to a more just society. Taylor also provided great inspiration to those young ambassadors who - as apart of the 12-month Young Ambassador Program - are charged with raising awareness of the importance of ethics, self-reflection and individual accountability in financial services. Taylor was an engaging, authentic and passionate speaker and connected with her audience. Taylor quickly understood the purpose of The BFO and nailed the brief after just one discussion and remained in contact with us to keep us across the research and great work she was carrying out with Foundations of Tomorrow.
Taylor is an extremely talented, dynamic and an engaging presenter, speaker and facilitator. She has an incredible ability to make sure everyone she speaks with is heard, safe & seen. I’ve been very lucky to have Taylor as a facilitator for Flourish Girl for a few years now and she has been a positive role model to so many young women across Australia. Her deep care & passion for people is shown in the way that she speaks and listens to her audience. She is a big believer in meeting the audience with where they are at. Her wisdom is beyond measure and consistently goes above and beyond to share her latest opinions on important topics such as feminine leadership, international climate engagements & future interests of Australia. So many leaders & well established organisations can learn so much from Taylor.
We had Taylor co-host a 3 Day conference earlier this year. She had a strong willingness to assist with preparations leading into the conference with a deep focus on attendees and their experience. Throughout the 3 days, Taylor was incredibly engaging, professional and supportive, going above and beyond to serve every attendee. We will definitely utilise Taylor’s hosting expertise at our future conferences.
Taylor was incredibly professional, well-spoken and a wonderful addition to our conference program!
