Those who inspire
We shine a light on the region’s best and brightest under the age of 30
ACROSS the Far North there are a range of talented individuals under 30 killing it in their industries and careers. From young entrepreneurs to advocates, filmmakers and SES volunteers this group is doing some great stuff.
Chambers of Commerce CEO Patricia O’Neill said Cairns was a great place for young people to launch their careers.
“There is exposure to connect with good quality mentors,” Ms O’Neill said.
“We are a regional town but we are actually a very cosmopolitan regional town which has attracted a lot of quality senior leaders from other parts of the world.
“As we continually strive to attract larger businesses to have satellite offices here, there is more opportunity for the youth to go and develop.”
CBC Staff Selection director Sally Mlikota said young people had done well from both leaving and staying in Cairns.
“Many young people do benefit from going to spend time in different parts of the country and the world,” Ms Mlikota said.
“On the flip side, we have some up-andcoming individuals who have never left Cairns and are doing equally well.”
Ms Mlikota said people from out of town had also contributed to this.
“We have quite a number of individuals under 30 from out of town who have moved to Cairns,” she said.
“They have enjoyed the young, innovative community and they have gone on to succeed.”
MAKER FOUNDER
Raine Ward started her own business in the middle of Covid at the age of 19 in Port Douglas. She opened a store with unique homewares and handmade products. Ms Ward wanted to create a platform to showcase and celebrate local artists. She did this through her online blog – Meet the Makers where she celebrates local artists behind each piece of art in her store.
ADVOCATE
From Seisia, a small Torres Strait Islander community, Talei Elu left her federal government job behind in Canberra to return to Cape York with skills and experience to transform her community. Leading and advocating for grassroots projects, Ms Elu, 29, has witnessed the immediate effects of her work pushing for a cleaner environment free from littering, and for telecommunication services in remote areas where access to emergency services has proved difficult.
MANEXO MEDIA BUSINESS OWNER
Brody Oxenham is a young entrepreneur at 25. He started his own business, Manexo Media, when he was 23. His business strives in digital marketing, websites, creating content and building online audiences. He helps business owners with tech. He has been a part of the Cairns Young Chamber since 2019. Mr Oxenham recently finished up as Y(E)P Entrepreneurship Facilitators digital marketing manager, a company that provides support to entrepreneurs at all stages.
AERIALIST
Kitanna Geiger is an aerialist from the Cassowary Coast with dreams of running away and joining the circus. Starting her journey in the art at the age of 15, she now teaches at Sundance Studio in Mission Beach while saving
money to audition for the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne.
TABLELANDS YOUNG CITIZEN OF THE YEAR 2022
With aspirations of becoming an engineer, Tahnee Dilger is a recent graduate of Atherton State High School where she was involved in studying STEM subjects and was named the Peter Doherty Outstanding Rural and Remote Senior STEM Student. Also involved with volunteer firefighting at the Tinaroo Rural Fire Brigade, Tahnee was awarded the Tableland’s Young Citizen of the Year award for 2022.
FILMMAKER
Mossman filmmaker Jake Girgenti, 21, climbs the Far North’s filmmaking ladder after bursting on to the scene with an acclaimed documentary three years ago. Girgenti, who went to the Mossman State High School, received critical acclaim from some of the best screenwriters and producers in the country at the Port Shorts Film Festival in Port Douglas in 2018. His short film, Sausage Roll, was the audience choice while his documentary-style film featuring Indigenous Mossman women, called Because of Her We Can, earned him a call-up to work with prominent local filmmaker Sio Tusa.
ARTIST
Toshandai Fejo is a young artist from Innisfail whose business in commissioned art has taken off since it first opened this year. Taking inspiration from her Mamu people, her country and the connection and knowledge she has to her ancestors, Toshandai’s artist name, Bulurru Yibi, means Dreamtime Woman. She hopes to hold an exhibition of her work in Innisfail later this year.
SINGER-SONGWRITER
A Cooktown local, Ella Hartwig was awarded her community’s Young Citizen of the Year. Ms Hartwig is an upcoming singer-songwriter carving out a name for herself and her community. Ms Hartwig has received nominations the past two years in the Queensland Music Awards and was featured on Tripe J’s Unearthed. Receiving recognition both nationally and internationally, the artist is influenced by indie, folk and country music.
VOLUNTEER
Tyler Williams has been an active volunteer with the Atherton SES for eight years. Finishing high school and an apprenticeship, he was eager to learn and build more skills when he joined the SES team. Now trained in flood boat recovery and rescue, height safety and rescue, rooftop repairs following storm damages, and multiple land searches with positive results, he said working with the SES has been “an absolute pleasure”.
AGILE PROJECT FOUNDER
Shai Ager has accomplished so much at 24. A lot of her work has been focused on wildlife, including working on the recent SEQ floods where she helped wildlife carers impacted by the floods. She was first known from her work through the animal welfare group the Agile Project. She has done a lot of volunteer work helping rehabilitate agile wallabies. By the age of 21 she had also been crowned as 2019 Cairns Young Woman of the Year on International Women’s Day.
HARPIST
Loni Fitzpatrick is an up-and-coming harpist in Port Douglas. At the age of 29, she plays at weddings and events. Ms Fitzpatrick is freelance and has recently developed an interest in sound healing, where she hopes to connect with musicians. While she is located in Port Douglas, Ms Fitzpatrick has played sold-out crowds in Sydney Opera House.
SCHOOLTEACHER
Jacob Vecchio has shown what it means to be proud of your town. The Good Counsel College schoolteacher was once a student at the very school he now works at, and is one of the most popular local athletes. With a long junior history of local sport including cricket, soccer and school sports, upon returning to town and local clubs, Mr Vecchio’s passion for his team and his enthusiasm in motivating his peers is unrivalled.
SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
Starting her career in hairdressing at the age of 14, Eva Condulles recently opened up her own business in the heart of the Atherton community. Finding a location for her business was the opportunity Eva needed to move from working at another local salon to owning and operating her own business. Now having run Hair by Eva for one year, Eva’s leap of faith has paid off and she’s well-recognised within the community as a small-business owner.
BUSINESS OWNER
High career ambitions don’t stop 28-year-old Micah Hart from following his goals. He opened up Social Impact back in 2020 when Covid was at its peak. Social Impact is a business aimed to support small businesses and give them a chance to have a great online presence. Mr Hart decided to push things further recently, and opened a photography studio called Hart Creative. It is aimed to make a creative space for anyone in Cairns who can go to where they want to focus, cooling themselves in an airconditioned room.
COUNCIL OFFICER
Working as an economic development and trade investment officer with the Cook Shire Council, Sha-lane Gibson loves her community and wants to develop the region to be sustainable, thriving and self-reliant. Growing up in Hopevale, Ms Gibson is heavily involved in community engagement and will be shadowing the British Consul General to further learn key development plans and techniques to bring back to her region.