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Dan Nixon
Dan Nixon

Dan Nixon

He's got his foot in the door, but it's just a start. 
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Dan Nixon is connecting with decision makers.

As I sat in at the National Jack Summit, absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of passion and good ideas, I couldn’t help but wonder where the decision makers in my life were? Why weren’t they here? Why weren’t they tapping into this incredible resource of young people, eager and ready to take action. I tweeted six times at my Minister of Mental Health that day and continued to tweet at her until one day, I received an email from her office. This email has spawned my involvement and other youths involvement in several aspects of the Governments work in British Columbia. Collaboration between youth and the government as well as recognition of youth wanting a seat at the table were both products of a simple tweet campaign. My relationship with my provincial government is far from over, this is just our foot in the door. I don’t want just a foot; I want full participation and I am still working towards that. The most important lesson I take from it, is that if you make noise in a concise and productive way, people around you must listen.

All of this wouldn’t have happened without social media. Social media has been an incredible tool for me in my advocacy journey. First, it allowed me to connect with the network of young leaders across Canada, then with a provincial Minister. Next? I’m thinking big, really big. National and International big. And my favourite part about my journey is that its not unique. I am not the only person with Twitter or Facebook or Instagram so use what you got. It’s worth it.