The Visibility of Teenage Girls
Tracks
Tamborine Gallery
| Tuesday, September 1, 2026 |
| 11:45 AM - 12:05 PM |
Overview
Maeve Slonim, The Flourish Journey
Three Key Learnings
1. Understand why many teenage girls feel invisible. Explore the internal and environmental factors that contribute to girls feeling unseen, unheard, or disconnected during adolescence.
2. Learn how Self Determination Theory applies to youth wellbeing. Discover how autonomy, competence, and connection influence a young person’s sense of identity, confidence, and agency.
3. Gain practical strategies to create environments where girls feel visible and empowered. Identify ways educators, practitioners, and communities can better listen to and support young people so their voices translate into genuine influence and self belief.
Speaker
Ms Maeve Slonim
Ceo
The Flourish Journey
The Visibility of Teenage Girls
Abstract
Across schools and communities, many teenage girls are struggling. Rates of anxiety, depression, and psychological distress among adolescent girls have risen significantly in recent years with many still feel unseen, unheard, and misunderstood.
This session explores what it means for teenage girls to move from invisibility to visibility. Drawing on years of experience working alongside young people, Maeve Slonim will explore why so many girls report feeling invisible in their own lives. For some, this invisibility is internal. Self doubt, comparison, and pressure lead them to shrink themselves or silence their voice. For others, invisibility is created by the environments around them, where expectations, systems, or adult assumptions fail to recognise their lived experience.
Grounded in Self Determination Theory, this session examines how the fundamental human needs of autonomy, competence, and connection shape a young person’s sense of identity and agency. When these needs are unmet, young people can feel powerless or disconnected. When they are supported, young people begin to see themselves as capable, valued, and visible.
Combining research, lived experiences shared by young people, and insights from years of facilitation with teenage girls, this session offers practical ways educators, practitioners, and communities can create environments where young people feel seen and empowered.
Visibility is not simply about being heard. It is about creating spaces where young people recognise their own voice, agency, and power.
This session explores what it means for teenage girls to move from invisibility to visibility. Drawing on years of experience working alongside young people, Maeve Slonim will explore why so many girls report feeling invisible in their own lives. For some, this invisibility is internal. Self doubt, comparison, and pressure lead them to shrink themselves or silence their voice. For others, invisibility is created by the environments around them, where expectations, systems, or adult assumptions fail to recognise their lived experience.
Grounded in Self Determination Theory, this session examines how the fundamental human needs of autonomy, competence, and connection shape a young person’s sense of identity and agency. When these needs are unmet, young people can feel powerless or disconnected. When they are supported, young people begin to see themselves as capable, valued, and visible.
Combining research, lived experiences shared by young people, and insights from years of facilitation with teenage girls, this session offers practical ways educators, practitioners, and communities can create environments where young people feel seen and empowered.
Visibility is not simply about being heard. It is about creating spaces where young people recognise their own voice, agency, and power.
Biography
Maeve is an experienced facilitator, speaker, and youth educator who works with young people to build confidence, identity, and a strong sense of self. With a background in experiential education and facilitation, she has spent her career designing and delivering programs that support young people, particularly teenage girls, to navigate adolescence and develop leadership and resilience.
Maeve is known for her grounded and engaging presentation style, creating spaces where audiences feel comfortable to reflect, connect, and participate. She regularly speaks on youth wellbeing, confidence, identity development, and the role educators and communities play in supporting young people to thrive.
