2021

Winners

2021

Overall Winner

Diana Nguyen

Actor, Comedian and Writer

Diana Nguyen

Vietnamese-Australian solicitor, advocate, organiser and Community Development Manager at Marrickville Legal Centre, Mrs Nguyen-Tu Le has been named the overall winner of the 2022 Most Influential Young Asian-Australian Awards, for her powerful contributions to the Asian-Australian Community.

Her inspiring journey in the community legal sector assisting victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence embarks a remarkable recognition towards the Asian-Australian community. She is committed to advocating for greater diversity and justice in Australian society and politics and was featured as one of 21 Inspirational Women of 2021 in Vogue Australia.

Amongst the 40 awardees this year are vocalist, producer and multidisciplinary artist, Rainbow Chan, through her multi-faceted practice, she strives to raise awareness of Asian-Australian art & culture and celebrate Australia’s diverse cultural heritage; a biomaterials engineer, Academic Fellow, and Deputy Head of School (Education) at the School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Sydney, Dr Young Jung No, who has been active in mentoring Asian students through unique challenges during university, and seeks contribution from First Nations peoples to increase engagement with engineering; and the three-time TEDx speaker, Founder and Speaker of Breathe Mr Jahin Tanvir, as a first generation migrant, his vision is to empower people from diverse backgrounds in decision-making and to be a role model to show that young multicultural voices matter and should be given importance.

“Significant bias, discrimination and racism exists against Asian-Australians in both work and non-work situations. To date, there is a lack of focus by senior leaders on leveraging Asian-Australian talent. At a time when everybody is complaining about the lack of talent, the Awards put Asian-Australians under the limelight by celebrating their journey in reaching such an awe-inspiring milestone” says Martine Letts, CEO of Asialink Group.

Vietnamese-Australian actor, comedian and writer, Diana Nguyen has been named as the overall winner of the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Awards for 2021.

Among the list this year includes professional footballer and Olympian, Samantha Kerr, Captain of the Matildas and team member of the Chelsea Football Club in the Women’s Super League; environmental engineer, Qilin Wang, who transforms wastewater treatment plants into carbon-neutral energy generators; and Frances Voon, a refugee lawyer advancing the rights of forced migrants.

Diana Nguyen has been named the overall winner of the 2021 40 Under 40 Most InfluentialAsian-Australian Awards, for her leadership, creativity and humour in shining a light on inclusion and diversity in contemporary Australia. In a period of enormous upheaval and uncertainty for artists and entertainers, Nguyen reminds Australia of the power of authentic storytelling and community connections. Her renowned web series – Phi and Me – and podcast platforms including The SnortCast, have shown resourcefulness, great initiative and have had deep national resonance.

"There is a growing awareness and confidence among young Asian-Australians to step up as leaders, be recognised and be role models for others. It is an exciting near future for Australia and for organisations, like Asialink, dedicated to driving meaningful creative engagement with our region,” says Dr Pippa Dickson, Director of Asialink Arts and co-convenor of the Awards.

2021

Category Winners

Under 25 Rising Star
Arts & Culture
Community & Advocacy / Not for Profit
Corporate
Education
Entrepreneurship
Professions and Legal
Public Sector/Government
Science & Medicine
Sport
Judges
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