Rising Star of the Year 2000

"Young people are not the leaders of tomorrow - they are the leaders of TODAY." This is what I aim to embody as an argent youth, health advocate and a medical student.Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire world saw the devastating effects of a lack of health preparedness in the community. I realized that to circumvent future health issues, health education needs to be integrated into our life at a young age - creating a more health-engaged next generation. Thus, I set out on a mission to create change. Now, at the age of 22 years old, I am the CEO and Founder of Body Buddies, an official, globally recognised social enterprise that sells soft toys in the shapes of organs to promote health to youth. Body Buddies is an initiative with a strong educational and philanthropic mission. They donate 50% of profits to Transplant Australia, their partner charity. More than the toys itself, I wanted to ensure that education was at the heart of every endeavor and product created by Body Buddies. Thus, the toys all come with a complimentary educational booklet. These booklets are curated by our unique and renowned team of over 30 medical professionals across Victoria. Less than 2 years out from initiation, Body Buddies has received critical acclaim. Body Buddies won 7 News Young Achiever Vic Award and the New Retail Business 2022. Moreover, it has sold over 6000 products from both in person events/stands and via its eCommerce platform and raised over $15,000 for Transplant Australia. Moreover, Body Buddies has received praise from the medical community. It is now available in person in several pharmacies, medical centres across Victoria as well as in large state hospitals: Austin Hospital and Sunshine Hospital. Body Buddies use their resources to conduct successful social justice campaigns including the “Break the Stigma” social media campaign.Over the years, I was also awarded the City of Melbourne Young Melburnian of the Year 2020, 40 Under 40 Most Influential Australian Asians 2020, Multicultural Award of Excellence by the Victorian Government 2020. Body Buddies also won the 7 News Young Achievers Award and Australian Small Business Champion New Retail Business Award 2022. I was also crowned as a ‘Covid Hero’ in 2020 and my photo was displayed on the State Library of Victoria during the Melbourne Christmas Festival.But more than the awards, I am truly grateful for the impact I could have so far as a young leader. Another incredibly proud moment for me was when I was appointed as a Board Member on the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. I am the youngest Australian selected for a governmental board in history. I am also the only ethnic representation and first Indian to sit on this education board. VCAA’s headquarters not only exists in Melbourne, but their curriculum dictates education across the entire state of Victoria. Every Victorian school and all their students are encompassed by this governmental body. So, my achievement has had a direct impact on all Victorian Youth. My position was nationally recognised when I was displayed on the front-page article of “The Age” newspaper! More than this, I enjoy meeting new people and represnting my country on an international scale. I have spolen on panels at national conferences (National Youth Futures Summit 2022/2021), attended the Youth Assembly 2020 in New York, attending the GenGeo International Conference by National Geographic 2020. Not only did I aim to support all Victorian students and ensure equal access to adequate education during the pandemic, i also directly reached out to the south Asian community. I conducted several interviews with SBS Punjabi (https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/first-student-rep-in-curriculum-body-to-push-for-global-issues-in-education), SBS Hindi (https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/victorian-curriculum-and-assessment-authority-will-support-final-year-students) and A1 TV Channels and Radios in order to raise awareness about the impacts of covid19 on the education system. And last but not least - I am a passionate academic currently completing a Doctor of Medicine at the University of Melbourne. I hope to continue helping people in my life through every aspect of my career.

Ali is the founder of Teens In Innovation, which organizes digital and physical events(ideathons, case studies etc) to high school students. They have now build a community of over 2000 young entrepreneurs and run programs in over 500 schools to help students launch their own startups.

Alikhan is a Kazakhstani innovator who strives to build an inclusive society, paying attention to the inaccessibility of education, entrepreneurship, and volunteerism. Alikhan created a 2.5D game about astrobiology due to the unavailability of understandable materials for children. He founded a non-profit which provides free support from therapists and International Children's Rights Club through UNICEF. In the future, he wants to solve the problem of the inaccessibility of many materials for visually impaired people.

Allison is a climate activist and aspiring energy engineer from Peru. She’s passionate about the energy sector and climate change. She also wishes to create a way to make clean and renewable energy cheaper and easier to transport in order to find an affordable replacement for fossil fuels. Allison created a solar water heater with recyclable materials aimed to help under-resourced people access warm water. Allison believes that education in science and technology can change the world, and she hopes to help more Peruvian students access this education in the future.

Amanda is the founder of BackScoop, a free newsletter that makes it fun and easy to stay updated with Southeast Asian startup and tech news in just a few minutes each morning. They now have over 10,000 subscribers and have been featured by CNN.

Due to the family’s financial constraints, Tuyet, aged 8, was sent away to live with her grandparents, where she thankfully could continue her education. When she returned, she became the valedictorian at the best school in her province. Tuyet says that education has helped her become financially independent – an opportunity closed to many of her friends. Drawing on her experiences, she has started multiple initiatives to promote affordable education, directly benefiting 500 students and indirectly 80,000 students. These range from free academic tutoring, research training, and professional training in digital skills, as well as funding for educational resources for underprivileged schools.

Anya Dillard is a 19-year-old activist, philanthropist, social entrepreneur, content creator, and aspiring filmmaker. She is also the founder of The Next Gen Come Up – a 501(c)3 nonprofit that encourages young people to explore activism, pursue community service, and raise awareness through creative expression. In her community, Anya is best known for helping to organize the largest civil rights protests in West Orange history (garnering an audience of over 3,000 people), co-organizing her town’s first-ever Juneteenth Celebration, contributing to her high school's first climate strike walkout, and being appointed as president of the first all-female all POC Student Council cabinet in her high school’s history. Most recently, Anya partnered with The Emmett Till Legacy Foundation and co-founded the Youth Never Let Up Coalition – a collective of Gen Z organizers that are collectively working with the Till family to organize actions demanding justice for Emmett Till and push for Carolyn Bryant Donham to face federal charges for her involvement in Till’s lynching.

Arianna Pozzi is the founder of Gaia My Friend, a platform offering AI-powered fashion & styling advice. In addition to style, the app also takes the user's emotions into consideration, establishing a relationship based on empathy

Cara and Jake are the founders of Steppen, social media-powered fitness app. They have both deferred their university degree to focus full time on the app as it started to gain popularity, and have secured $500,000 in a pre-seed-funding round.

Derin has always wanted to “be the change”, but after realising that she had to be over 18 to contribute to an NGO, she took matters into her own hands and set up her own. As the founder of Turkey’s biggest NGO for high schoolers ‘Liseli Gonulluler’; Derin has brought together 3500+ students who, regardless of their age, can participate in social responsibility projects, contribute to the 17 sustainable development goals, create change, and build on this platform where they can all create a positive impact on a common agenda.

Grace founded ‘The Mini Moon Project’ in 2019 when she discovered a friend of hers had to resort to taking sanitary pads from their church because the orphanage where she lived couldn’t provide enough to go around. ‘The Mini Moon Project’ works through advocacy and action – by advocating and fundraising for the cause, Grace then takes action to purchase menstrual kits to distribute to orphanages and educate young girls about their own bodies and menstruation. As of 2022, she has supported over a thousand girls with menstrual kits in six countries: South Korea, South Africa, Kenya, Thailand, Laos, and India, and distributed 3,000 packs of educational materials.

Guido's dedication to the field of Synthetic Biology and the networks he’s nurtured have earned him a spot in Harvard University's Amgen Scholar Program. He has also won various awards for his engagement in Synthetic Biology and drug discovery, such as NOVA's award for Healthcare and Bio Sciences!Here you can find what I have done:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B-MK-6GVIAMYMxtQsweaG_XSIZDKBtMu/view?usp=sharingIn summary, my mission is to foster discoveries, working on chronic diseases. I have been working in synbio, AI, entrepreneurship and policy in the past. I want to launch a billionaire company and am working on building the infrastructure with that. All my activities can be found on Linkedin; the mission was quite personal and is present here.