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Maddy Dhesi
Building civic media for the social media generation

When we first met Maddy, it was clear she was already moving.She did not arrive with a vague idea or a polished pitch. She arrived with a platform, a point of view, and a deep understanding of a problem that too often sits in plain sight: politics can feel distant, confusing and inaccessible, especially for people who are trying to understand it through the channels they actually use every day.Maddy is the co-founder of Senedd Explained, a social-first civic media platform making Welsh politics clearer, more engaging and easier to follow. Through short-form content, explainers and accessible storytelling, Senedd Explained helps people understand what is happening in Welsh politics, why it matters, and how it connects to their lives.For Maddy, this work became especially urgent in the run-up to the 2026 Senedd election. Elections create moments of attention, but they can also expose gaps: gaps in trust, gaps in understanding, and gaps between formal political institutions and the people they are supposed to serve. Senedd Explained stepped into that space with a simple but powerful premise: meet people where they are, speak in language they understand, and make politics feel less closed off.

"We’ve got a youth audience, but we’ve also got a really big audience between 25 and 40. What that encompasses is people with social media literacy. The generation getting their news on social.”

Maddy describes the audience not only as “young people”, but as the social media generation. That distinction is important. This is not just about age. It is about how people now encounter information, form opinions, ask questions and take part in public life. Senedd Explained is part of a wider shift in how civic understanding is built: not only through newspapers, broadcast interviews or party leaflets, but through the platforms people scroll every day.

Social content from Senedd Explained - signposting to the mental health policies of the main parties. Image courtesy of Sennedd Explained

Level Up Collective exists to amplify the brilliance of young changemakers. Our role is to let talent, drive and lived experience find us, then to help create the conditions for growth around that person and their work.With Maddy, that meant flexible funding, regular check-ins, space to think, practical challenge, and support to strengthen the foundations beneath Senedd Explained.Some of that support was tangible. Funding helped Maddy access better equipment and improve the production quality of her content. That changed how the work looked and sounded, but it also changed how it felt. Maddy reflected that it gave the platform a more professional feeling. It helped her and the Senedd Explained team attend media and political events and conferences not as someone trying to make do, but as a serious content creator with the tools to match the ambition of the work.

That kind of legitimacy matters. For those building in public, confidence is often shaped by very practical things: the camera that works, the microphone that sounds clear, the ability to produce content that meets the standard you know the work deserves. These things can be the difference between feeling like you are improvising and feeling like you are building something real.Other parts of the support were less visible, but just as important.Through our conversations, Maddy used Level Up Collective as a place to test ideas, talk through decisions and think about the operating structure behind Senedd Explained. Like many early initiatives, the platform had grown through energy, commitment and relationships. As the work became more visible, it needed clearer roles, boundaries and ways of making decisions. Maddy has spoken openly about how valuable it was to have people checking in, challenging her and helping her think through the human side of building something with others.

Senedd Explained interview Carrie Harper - Plaid Cymru Member of Senedd. Image courtesy of Senedd Explained.

That is often the hidden work of changemaking. Publicly, people see the content, the numbers, the invitations and the recognition. Behind the scenes, there is the work of holding a team together, managing pressure, making decisions, learning how to lead, and deciding what kind of organisation or platform you want to become.

During the election period, Senedd Explained reached a new level of visibility. The platform exceeded its original audience growth target, passed more than 1.5 million in circulation, attracted positive audience feedback, built collaborations with other creators, and gained wider recognition through media coverage and invitations into significant public and political spaces.Those figures count, but they are not the whole story.The deeper story is that Maddy used the election period as a live test of what Senedd Explained could be. She did not overreach. She did not try to become everything to everyone. She focused on producing useful, accessible content, building credibility, and learning what kind of model could be sustained beyond one political moment.That is what feels most exciting now.

Maddy is already thinking about what comes next: how to keep Senedd Explained going beyond the election cycle, how to document what worked, how to explore funding or sponsorship, how to strengthen the team, and how the model might grow in future. There is ambition there, but also maturity. Growth, for Maddy, is not simply about doing more. It is about building something that can last.For Level Up Collective, Maddy’s journey has helped sharpen our own understanding of what we are here to do. Young changemakers often already have the insight, creativity and commitment needed to make change. They are close to the issues. They understand the culture. They can see gaps that established organisations often miss. What they need is not to be over-directed or turned into someone else’s version of success. They need the right conditions for growth: flexible resources, trusted relationships, practical tools, space to reflect, and people who take their ideas seriously.

“It’s been really useful to have a place of consistent support and someone to ask questions to. I’ve also learnt how to strategically use the funding.”

Maddy had the idea, the voice and the drive. Senedd Explained is hers. The progress belongs to her and the team around her. Our role was to help create a stronger environment around that work, so it could grow with more confidence, quality and clarity.Maddy is one of three changemakers in our first cohort. Each of their journeys is different, but together they are beginning to show what Level Up Collective can become: a platform that makes young brilliance easier to see, amplify and sustain.Maddy’s work is a perfect place to start. When a young social innovator is already moving, the most important thing we can do is help create the conditions for them to keep going. Stronger, clearer and more confident than before.

Maddy's story is one of three very different journeys. Together, these stories show what can happen when support is shaped around the person, rather than the programme.You can continue exploring the journeys of the other young creatives below, or read our reflections on what they've taught us about creating the conditions for young changemakers to grow.