Alex Kelly – ChangeMaker Chat – Climate disaster & storytelling
What can we learn when a communications expert becomes the climate story?
You can download this episode via the ACAST app here, or find it on any podcast app (Spotify, Apple, Stitcher etc) – just search “ChangeMakers Podcast” and look for the Orange Box!
Alex Kelly has been involved in climate and Indigenous campaigning and social change for decades – with a focus on communications, storytelling and the arts. She has long taught people about how to communicate their messages in the media. But in January 2026, she found herself at the centre of unprecedented bushfires then flooding in regional Victoria – and used her skills to project a message about disaster and climate change.
In this episode we explore what she learnt from her experience on the frontline, and what her experience can teach others about how to communicate and link our personal experiences and testimony to bigger public causes and issues when talking to the media – and when telling stories more generally.
For more:
Alex’s website and project archive https://echotango.org/
The Unquiet Collective – Alex’s film and impact home https://unquiet.com.au/
The Things We Did Next speculative futures project https://www.thethingswedidnext.org/
Economic Media Centre – free spokesperson training https://www.economicmediacentre.org/
The Point op-ed on disaster levy: https://thepoint.com.au/opinions/260115-harcourt-fires-show-need-for-disaster-levy
350.org post on resilience https://350.org/wildfires-building-community-resilience/?r=AU&c=OC
Duty of care & lived experience spokesperson resources https://docs.google.com/document/d/14OWJxTJ8y08iouwxg2E4MIsATT7Vv_Xtey4mpekgfXQ/edit?tab=t.0
Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action Lived Experience Guide to Climate Campaigning https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60ee407ec551f135b5c1a9a8/t/66e0e408260d51146efd7c06/1726014473102/Lived+Experience+Guide+to+Climate+Campaigning+2024.pdf
Documentary Accountability Working Group https://www.docaccountability.org/
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