Warwick Indigenous teen Isabel Natividad nominated for 7NEWS Young Achievers Award

A former Assumption College student has become a finalist for a statewide leadership award for her amazing achievements, and at only 18, she’s got plenty more to achieve. Read her inspiring story.

A Southern Downs teenager has been nominated for a prestigious Queensland leadership award, with the girl from Warwick just getting started with making a difference in the world.

Isabel Natividad is a finalist in the First National Real Estate Leadership Award category at the 2023 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards.

The Wakka Wakka woman graduated from Assumption College at Warwick in 2022, and has embarked on pursuing her passion of studying a Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne.

Proud mum Dee Natividad said Isabel’s background was a driving force for her journey to promote guidance, diversity and inclusivity at Assumption during her time in a inclusivity leadership position with the school.

“Isabel is Indigenous and LGBTQ+ which gave her the skills she needed to be the first inclusivity leader at Assumption,” Mrs Natividad said.

Isabel Natividad with her award-winning Artwork "Guyumba" (Photo: Dee Natividad)

“She has achieved so much both inside and outside of school, from designing the NAIDOC shirts for her school and spending a lot of time doing her music, but her great love is science and studying physics.”

A passionate artist, winning a UniSQ art competition, Isabel is also a prolific drummer and recently won ‘best pitch’ as a part of the University of Queensland’s Young Changemakers program.

“She has big plans for herself, she wants to do her PhD at Cambridge, she’s been inquisitive from a young age and a very compassionate person.”

However, it hasn’t been the easiest journey for Isabel getting to this point, but Mrs Natividad said the challenges her daughter faced has made her the accomplished young leader that she is today.

“She’s had a lot of personal challenges to overcome, she’s not that much of a social butterfly and has struggled with the social aspect of schooling as well as being Indigenous and a member of the LGBTQ+ community which bring challenges she has had to overcome, but she has become confident in who she is,” Mrs Natividad said.

Former Assumption College student Isabel Natividad has been narrowed down as a finalist for a Queensland leadership award (Photo: Dee Natividad)

“The inclusive leadership role at Assumption really helped her step up and speak out for herself and other and ensured the school had an inclusive community that everyone was treated fairly and accepted.

“That really gave her a lot of drive in taking those next steps in her life and supporting other people and speaking out for inclusivity for everybody.”

Mrs Natividad said she believes the main reason Isabel has progressed to being a finalist to receive the award is due to despite everything Isabel was able to stand up and be a leader.

“She has demonstrated that she has pushed herself out of her comfort zone and overcome adversity and hardship and paved the way for others to be inclusive.

“She’s left a wonderful legacy at Assumption and being the first in that role and she’s ensured students are able to say ‘hey, I’m different and that’s okay’.”

You can vote for Isabel via the link here. The winner will be announced on May 19.