Lucy Thomas always believed that “someone should really do something about bullying.” Then she realised: I am that someone.
Now, more than a decade after founding PROJECT ROCKIT, Lucy has dedicated her whole life to the cause. As a keynote speaker and facilitator, Lucy has personally worked with hundreds of thousands of young people all over the world, from Wangaratta to Texas, Wollongong to Auckland, Atherton to Perth.
Current Work:
As CEO of PROJECT ROCKIT, Lucy’s work has been honoured by UNICEF, the global Family Online Safety Institute, and she has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her service to youth and the issue of bullying.
But after building her career tackling bullying, Lucy’s life was fundamentally changed when she became the target of an extended pattern of bullying herself. Instead of hiding away, Lucy took this as a call to connect with even young Aussies and launch herself into advocating for her LGBTIQA+ community. Lucy has since wrapped these personal learnings into her widely received TEDx talk, Kindness: The ultimate rebellion against bullying.
Today Lucy sits on a number of boards including Facebook’s Global Safety Board, Twitter’s Global Trust and Safety Council and she is a Director of the board at Pride Cup - championing LGBTQI+ inclusion through sport. With a blended academic background in Psychology and Creative Arts, Lucy is a mighty force of kindness, equipped with the precious ability to creatively engage young people to generate positive social change.
Talking Points
Young people at the centre: Harnessing digital participation for good
Lucy Thomas OAM has dedicated her life to tackling bullying and building social leadership among young people. Shortly after finishing school, she and her sister launched ‘PROJECT ROCKIT’ to effect change on issues of (cyber)bullying and put young people’s voices at the centre. PROJECT ROCKIT has since grown into Australia’s youth-driven movement against bullying, hate and prejudice, using a strengths-based approach to empower students with the skills to challenge bullying instead of standing by watching. Under Lucy’s leadership, PROJECT ROCKIT serves as an exclusive youth partner to the social media platforms we upload our lives to - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Google - and advocates to government on matters of young people and digital participation.Young people at the centre: Harnessing digital participation for good
Here Lucy shares learning drawn from hundreds of thousands of young people all over the country to explore the question: How can we empower school students to challenge hate online, in our school communities, and beyond? This talk packs a punch with equal parts inspiration and practical strategies that are relevant to any audience
Challenging (cyber)bullying: Strategies for real action
1 in 4 Australian school students report being bullied, but what about the remaining 3 students who witness bullying and don’t know how to challenge it?Challenging (cyber)bullying: Strategies for real action
Lucy Thomas is the cofounder and CEO of PROJECT ROCKIT, Australia’s youth-driven movement against bullying, hate and prejudice. Having dedicated her whole life to tackling (cyber)bullying, Lucy has personally worked with thousands of young people, equipping them with the skills to challenge hate instead of standing by watching. Hear the story of how a simple idea grew into an enduring social movement and leave the session with simple, safe and socially credible strategies for challenging (cyber)bullying.
LGBTQI+ inclusion and allyship
After building her career around tackling bullying after finishing high school, Lucy’s life was fundamentally changed when she herself became the target of an extended pattern of homophobic bullying a decade later in adulthood. Instead of hiding away, Lucy took this as an opportunity to connect with even more young Aussies and launch herself into advocating kindness in the face of discrimination.LGBTQI+ inclusion and allyship
In this session, Lucy presents an accessible introduction to diversity and LGBTQI+ inclusion, and shares how to step up as an ally - both for the LGBTQI+ community and for those who identify as an LGBTQI+ person.
Self-care during times of crisis
The subject of the moment is self-care: Taking an active role in your own wellbeing. But for so many of us, 'self-care' seems to have evolved into alternate plastic reality underpinned by consumption, competition and vanity - actually distracting us from taking care of ourselves.Self-care during times of crisis
Lucy Thomas OAM has dedicated her life to tackling bullying and empowering teens to thrive even in the face of difficult experiences. Shortly after finishing school, she and her sister launched ‘PROJECT ROCKIT’ to effect change on issues of (cyber)bullying and put young people’s voices at the centre. PROJECT ROCKIT has since grown into Australia’s youth-driven movement against bullying, hate and prejudice, having reached over half a million young Aussies over the past 15 years. Flipping self-care cliches into genuine pathways to wellbeing, Lucy's talk explores social action as an avenue for self-care, the importance of challenging self-stigma, and practical tips for building the strength to ride through times of crisis.
Video
Kindness: The ultimate rebellion against bullying | Lucy Thomas | TEDxUNSW
After cofounding PROJECT ROCKIT, Australia’s youth driven movement against bullying, hate and prejudice, Lucy Thomas' model of kindness was shattered when she encountered her own experience of brutal homophobic bullying by somebody she loved. Lucy shares her story of how she rebuilt her life by remodelling her view of kindness as a tough and turbulent but powerful discipline for all of us to blunder at and stumble through everyday. Growing up, Lucy Thomas always figured that “someone should really do something about bullying.” Then she realised: I am that someone. As one of two sisters who cofounded PROJECT ROCKIT, Australia’s youth driven movement against bullying, hate and prejudice, Lucy has dedicated her whole life to the cause. After building her career around tackling bullying, Lucy’s life was fundamentally changed when she herself became the target of an extended pattern of homophobic bullying in adulthood. Instead of hiding away, Lucy took this as an opportunity to connect with even young Aussies and launch herself into advocating for the LGBTI community. She first shared her story with thousands of high school students at the National Young Leaders Day at Olympic Park in Sydney and is now Deputy Chair of the board at Minus18, Australia’s largest youth led org supporting LGBTI young people. She made global headlines last year when a recording of Lucy standing up to a homophobic Uber driver went viral. In 2014, she was named as one of 12 Global Champions for Children’s Rights in the Digital Age by UNICEF and in 2015, she was a Finalist for LGBTI Person of the Year in the GLOBE Awards. Lucy is a graduate of the University of Melbourne with both Graduate and Postgraduate Diplomas in Psychology, as well as a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Hons). Her creative and socially conscious background, together with this solid grounding in psychology and youth development has equipped Lucy with the precious ability to engage young people to generate self-awareness, growth and positive social change.Advancing Australia - PROJECT ROCKIT
"Everyone had this incredible pressure to assimilate, to be the same. I think we were all so focused on the things that made us different that you couldn't even notice other people's struggles, because you were so concerned with blending in and erasing the parts of yourself that stood out." Our co-founder, Lucy Thomas OAM, shares their story that led to where PROJECT ROCKIT is today (also featuring our incredible presenter Teresa).It was inspiring to hear from someone so engaging and interesting. Lucy's talk actually allowed me to see things differently on the topic of bullying and she helped me see further how amazin ... keep reading Year 10 student, Ballarat Grammar
Rosie and Lucy Thomas are the perfect blend of youthful enthusiasm and a mature understanding of complex social, behavioural and technology issues. They commit to projects 100%, are dedicated in their preparation and deliver on the day, when they own the room and win the audience over - students, teachers, parents, government officials and ministers alike.
I have worked in the online safety space for the 20 years in jurisdictions around the world and I can say, hand on heart, there is no other anti-bullying organisation like PROJECT ROCKIT. Part of what makes PROJECT ROCKIT unique is the cofounders and coCEOs Rosie and Lucy Thomas. They are incredibly special human beings that use their natural ebullience, compassion and bias for problem solving to effectively connect with young people.
