From Community to Global Stage: Young Pacific Leaders and the Power of Their Voice

How can a young person from the Pacific take an idea from their community and carry it onto the global stage?

That was the question at the heart of PAYA’s August webinar, From Community to Global Stage: How Young Pacific Leaders Can Influence the World, held online on Sunday 30 August 2026. The session was designed to encourage young Pacific leaders to recognise that global influence often begins with action at home.

The Pacific-Australia Youth Association was honoured to welcome H.E. Ambassador Michelle Hau’ofa, Papua New Guinea’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organisations in Geneva, and Ambassador-Designate to Switzerland.

The webinar was moderated by PAYA Founder and President Dominic de Moura McCarthy and brought together young people interested in leadership, community development and the future of Pacific representation.

Ambassador Hau’ofa’s own journey reflects the theme of the session.

Before entering diplomacy, she spent around 20 years in the private sector and another 15 years working in community development and the NGO sector. Her career has included leadership roles across finance, banking, governance, health, disability services and civil society. Today, she represents Papua New Guinea in Geneva, one of the major centres of international diplomacy and multilateral decision-making.

Throughout the conversation, one message continued to return: do not underestimate where an opportunity can lead you.

Ambassador Hau’ofa encouraged young Pacific people to seek opportunities, take them when they appear and pursue their work with passion and persistence.

She reflected that many opportunities in her own life came because she had committed herself to causes she believed in. Her message was simple: keep showing up, keep contributing and do not give up.

“Don’t underestimate the power of one, the power of your voice.”

For PAYA, this message strongly reflects why youth representation matters.

Ambassador Hau’ofa spoke about the importance of seeing more Pacific young people represented in leadership positions, including on boards and in international conversations.

She shared one example from global discussions around artificial intelligence governance, where Pacific representation was missing from an expert panel. The discussion may have been global, but the Pacific voice was not at the table.

That gap matters.

Our Pacific region has its own experiences, cultures, priorities and challenges. Whether conversations are about climate, health, technology, trade, fisheries or human rights, decisions made internationally can have real impacts on our islands and communities.

Pacific voices therefore need to be part of those conversations.

Ambassador Hau’ofa also spoke about the importance of Pacific countries working together within the multilateral system. For smaller states, cooperation and strong partnerships can help amplify the region’s collective voice.

But reaching the global stage does not mean leaving community leadership behind.

One of the strongest lessons from the webinar was that the skills used internationally are often first developed much closer to home: serving an organisation, supporting a community, volunteering, improving governance, advocating for others or simply choosing to take responsibility for something that needs to change.

Ambassador Hau’ofa spoke about passion, integrity and the standards leaders bring to their work.

As she reflected during the session:

“The way you do anything is the way you do everything.”

For emerging leaders, this means leadership is not only about a future title or position. It is also about how you work today, how you treat people, how you use the resources entrusted to you and whether you remain committed to your values.

At PAYA, we believe the Pacific already has the leaders, ideas and voices needed to shape our region’s future.

Sometimes the journey begins in a village, a youth group, a workplace, a community organisation or a local project.

The important thing is to begin.

And when opportunities come, be ready to take your seat at the table — and bring the Pacific with you.