About The Founder
Emerge was founded by Jen Shaw, a local Toowoomba personality and social entrepreneur who overcame many challenges and disadvantages in her youth to become a positive and valuable member of the community. Jen is committed to providing the same opportunities to the young people of Toowoomba in a community-driven, non-government and non-religious platform that complements existing services in the region.
“I’ve had the vision to create a space for youth in Toowoomba for over 15 years. I grew up in Toowoomba and spent much of my youth on the streets, out of school and disengaged from my family. It was thanks to out-of-the-box ideas and mentorship from down-to-earth people that played a big part in helping me so I wanted to create a platform for that to occur for other kids in our community.”
— Jen Shaw, CEO
