The 40 most influential Asian-Australians under 40

Maths whiz Eddie Woo and Airtasker CEO Tim Fung are just some of our most influential Asian-Australians under 40. SEE WHO ELSE MADE THE LIST

A computer scientist, television journalist, actor, bank manager, teacher, barrister and start-up founder have been crowned 2019’s most influential Asian-Australians aged under 40.

Asian-Australians make up about 12 per cent of the country’s population and four per cent hold senior leadership positions as some of the largest organisations including NAB, CSIRO, Airtasker and City of Melbourne council.

FIND OUT WHO MADE THE TOP 40 BELOW

Dr Muneera Bano has been named the most influential Asian-Australian under 40. Picture: Supplied

Last night, eight judges revealed their list to the inaugural Asian-Australian Leadership Summit, crowning Melbourne based software engineer Dr Muneera Bano as the most influential Asian-Australian under 40 of 2019.

Journalist Marc Fennell, top educator Eddie Woo, NAB’s Dr Imran Lum and Airtasker CEO Tim Fung also received nods.

“Dr Bano is a highly visible role model for women in STEM, whose personal journey is incredibly inspiring,” Judge and executive consultant Jason Johnson said.

“It is indeed an honour to receive this recognition. Every day, Asian-Australians play a critically important bridging role with our neighbours in the Asian region,” Dr Bano said.

From here Dr Bano will participate in the University of Sydney’s Cultural Diversity and Leadership Fellowship, to help boost training and job opportunities for high-achieving multicultural leaders as well as assisting companies who want to improve their diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

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MOST 40 INFLUENTIAL ASIAN-AUSTRALIANS UNDER 40

OVERALL WINNER: Dr Muneera Bano, Melbourne, Swinburne University

ARTS, CULTURE AND SPORT

WINNER: Benjamin Law, Author

Former Queenslander, now Sydneysider Law is an accomplished writer of books, journalism and television shows.

Benjamin Law and mother Jenny Law in a scene from the documentary TV series Waltzing the Dragon. Law has been named one of the most influential Asian-Australians under 40. Picture: ABC-TV.

— Marc Fennell (Sydney, Journalist / Television Presenter)

— Walter Lee (Melbourne, Australian Football League general manager of strategy)

— Leah Jing McIntosh (Melbourne, LIMINAL magazine founding editor / Photographer)

— Chris Pang ( Melbourne / Los Angeles, Actor star of Crazy Rich Asians, Tomorrow When the War Began)

Melbourne’s Chris Pang (Most Influntial in Arts and Culture) has skyrocketed to fame in LA, recently featuring on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine. He most recently starred in Crazy Rich Asians, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Tomorrow When the War Began. Picture: Supplied

— Pallavi Sharda (Perth, Bollywood Actor, Lion alongside Nicole Kidman / Miss India Sydney (2010) )

Perth’s Pallavi Sharda (Most Influntial in Arts and Culture) has achieved a successful Bollywood career and also acted alongside Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman in Lion. Picture: Supplied.

COMMUNITY AND ADVOCACY / NOT FOR PROFIT

WINNER: Khunapong Khunaraksa, Gravity Water CEO / board member

Gravity Water's Khunapong Khunaraksa is fighting to provide safe drinking water to developing countries. Picture: Supplied

Known as ‘Mr Water’ Khunapong Khunaraksa splits his time between Australia, wider Asia Pacific and America using his masters degree in water engineering from UNSW to provide communities and developing countries safe drinking water.

— Cat Thao Nguyen (Vietnam, Australia Vietnam Young Leadership Dialogue co-founder / Managing director Global Ready LLC)

— Yasmin Poole (Canberra, Plan Internation youth ambassador to engage young women in politics / Named in the Top 25 Young Women to Watch in International Relations)

Canberra's Yasmin Poole works to engage young women in politics. She has been named as one of the most influential Asian-Australians in the community and advocacy category. Picture: Supplied

— Alan Wu (Oxfam Australia board member)

— Weh Yeoh (co-founder OIC Cambodia)

CORPORATE

WINNER: Dr Imran Lum, National Australia Bank’s Director of Islamic Finance

NAB's director of Islamic Finance is Dr Imran Lum. Picture: Supplied

Sydney based Dr Lum looks after NAB’s Islamic finance capabilities. He is also a board Adviser for the Islamic Museum of Australia and founder of online Arabic learning platform Arabic Made In China. He has been named in the ISLAMICA 500 in recent years as one of the leaders in building the Islamic global economy.

— Queenie Chow (Melbourne / Africa, Association of Australian Actuaries)

— Matthew Park (Sydney / Papua New Guinea, Oil Search vice president - operating PNG oil fields)

— Adriana Saw (Melbourne, Australia and New Zealand Bank Group / AFR’s Young Executive of the Year 2017)

— Shuyin Tang (Vietnam, Venture capitalist, Patamar Capital partner)

EDUCATION

WINNER: Eddie Woo, Department of Education, NSW

Math teacher Eddie Woo at Cherrybrook Technology High School. Picture: AAP

Sydney based Woo is Australia’s most popular maths teacher whose YouTube how-to videos have attracted thousands of worldwide fans. He was shot to fame as head teacher of maths at Cherrybrook Technology High School in Sydney and is now a top education Adviser and author. He continues to educate online via his digital classroom Mister WooTube.

— Huong Le Thu (Canberra, Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst, focus on South East Asia tensions and Australia-Asia policy)

— Shivali Nayak (Melbourne, Language content producer ABC / Reporter / India-Australia Young Professional of the Year)

— Dr Mimi Zou (Sydney, UK, Oxford University fellow in Chinese commercial law)

— Dr Muneera Bano (Melbourne, Swinburne University of Technology lecturer)

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

WINNER: Tim Fung, Airtasker

Airtasker CEO and Co-Founder Tim Fung. Picture: Adam Taylor

Sydney’s Fung is one of the country’s biggest risk takers when it comes to career, he quit his job in finance to focus on building start-ups and has never looked back. The Airtasker co-founder is inspiration for many, the company is now used by millions in Australia since it began in 2012.

Fung wanted to pay people to run his errands, turns out many others wanted the same service.

— Fung Lam (Melbourne, online retail / wholesaler New Aim co-founder)

— Sarah Liu (Sydney, talent aquisition / The Dream Collective founder)

— Zion Ong (Perth, digital marketing / Alyka director)

— William Taing (Sydney, Beanstalk AgTech co-founder)

SCIENCE AND MEDICINE

WINNER: Dr Meru Sheel, Australian National University

Dr Meru Sheel is an infectious disease specialist at ANU. Picture: Supplied

Dr Sheel is an infectious disease epidemiologist at ANU Research School of Population Health. Her focus is looking at how to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases to prevent epidemics and how to best respond to public health emergencies.

— Dr Zhaojun Han (Sydney, CSIRO and University of New South Wales Joint Lab co-founder)

— Dr Jagnoor Jagnoor (Sydney, India, The George Institute for Global Health’s head of the injury division)

— Dr Rebecca Lim (Sydney, Hudson Institute of Medical Research scientific director / hearing specialist / senior lecturer at University of Newcastle)

— Dr Chengxue Helena Qin (Melbourne, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute)

PROFESSIONS

WINNER: Astrid Haban-Beer, Barrister

Barrister Astrid Haban-Beer. Picture: Supplied

Haban-Beer is a human rights barrister with the Victorian Bar Association who practises in criminal, public and government law.

— Dr Jehan Kanga (Sydney. KMPG tech lead)

— Sue Ann Khoo (Sydney, Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills director)

— Kenneth Hong (Sydney, H & H Lawyers principal)

— Sek-Loong Tan (Canberra, Boston Consulting Group partner)

PUBLIC SECTOR / GOVERNMENT

WINNER: Cr Philip Le Liu, City of Melbourne

Melbourne City Councillor Philip Le Liu. Picture: Supplied

Councillor Le Liu works in the heart of Melbourne chairing the city’s international engagement portfolio. Is is also deputy chair of arts, culture and heritage and deputy chair of knowledge.

— Helen Dai (Sydney, trade and investment specialist / Austrade director)

— Yen Tan (The British Consulate-General Hong Kong)

— Andrew Wan (The Smith Family CISO)

Originally published as The 40 most influential Asian-Australians under 40