Actor, Comedian and Writer
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.
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.
Professional background is in accounting and finance, starting her career in banking at Macquarie Group in 2018.
A doctor working in Sydney, and the Co-Founder and Director of Consent Labs (a youth-led not-for-profit that delivers consent and respectful relationships education).
UN Women
Yuva AI
LIMINAL magazine
Empty by Design, Crazy Rich Asians, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Tomorrow, When the War Began
Les Norton, Tom and Jerry, Lion, Besharam, Beecham House, Hawaizaada
A_PART
Phoenix Eye
Pub Choir
Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney
Asian Australian Alliance
Media Diversity Australia
Wattle Fellowship, University of Melbourne
Australian GLBTI Multicultural Council, Australian Centre for Disability Law, People with Disability Australia and Out for Australia
Lowy Institute For International Policy
PEXA
The University of New South Wales (UNSW)
Deakin University
Australian School of Entrepreneurship (ASE)
Hacker Exchange (HEX)
CODI Agency & Lisnic
Weploy
Club Media
Victorian Bar
Accenture
Herbert Smith Freehills
Fragomen (Australia) Pty Ltd
Victorian Multicultural Commission
Community and Public Sector Union
Liverpool City Council
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Monash University and Alfred Health
Macquarie University
RMIT University
Matildas; FA Women's Super League
The 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Awards winners were selected with the help of leading executive search firm, Johnson Partners, and a panel of judges that included Director of Asialink Arts at Asialink, Dr Pippa Dickson; Former Socceroo Captain and humanitarian advocate Craig Foster AM; Founder and Chief Executive of iFLYflat Steve Hui; Founder and Managing Partner at Johnson Partners Jason Johnson; Founding Partner of Kabo Lawyers and CEO at Aksara Group Konfir Kabo; Director of the Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership at the Australian National University Jieh-Yung Lo; Australia Consulting Leader and ASEANZ Consulting CEO at PwC Australia David McKeering; Barrister and Overall Winner of the 2020 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Awards Lyma Nguyen; Chair, Non-Executive Director, Fellow of AICD and member of Chief Executive Women Katrina Rathie; Managing Director, Small and Medium Business at Optus Libby Roy; Chief Innovation, Marketing and Technology Officer at Stockland Sharmila Tsourdalakis; and Chairman of Mering Corporation, Investor and Philanthropist Jason Yeap OAM.
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