Young Citizen of the Year Charlotte Ogden a worthy winner

South Gippsland Shire Council’s Young Citizen of the Year Charlotte ‘Charli’ Ogden of Leongatha is just 19 but has already developed strong leadership skills, and plans to have a positive impact on the environment through her knowledge of vegetation and water management.
She is studying a Diploma of Conservation and Ecosystem Management, having now transferred from RMIT in Melbourne to TAFE Gippsland.
Charli is learning about vegetation assessment and regeneration projects, keen to be part of such projects in her career.
“I’ve always been passionate about environmental issues and I prefer a grassroots approach to yelling about things and watching not much happen,” she said.
Her knowledge of vegetation is being further enhanced through her work at a plant nursery.
She enjoys putting her plant knowledge to practical use.
“I love foraging; it’s really important in terms of food security but also it’s interesting,” Charli said.
Her community involvement began through Scouts, which she joined at age seven, and she continues to spend much of her time volunteering at the 1st Inverloch Scout Group where she is now a Rover and qualified as a scout leader.
Between 2019 and 2021, Charli represented South Gippsland at the Victorian Youth Congress, playing a vital role in the co-creation of the Victorian Youth Strategy, that process including community consultation, regular meetings with staff from the Office for Youth and presentations to the Minister for Youth.
“That pushed me into caring a lot more about general youth issues and realising how integral young people are in the community,” Charli said.
She described being named as Young Citizen of the Year as “a huge honour”.
“I’ve had a lot of people trust me and believe in me,” she said, noting that has enabled her to achieve what she has.