Logan’s most influential young entrepreneurs, athletes, revealed
From influential entrepreneurs to athletes and community advocates – which young gun 25 or under is having the biggest influence in Logan? SEE THE LIST AND VOTE
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From professional athletes, small business owners, entrepreneurs, community advocates and big hearted volunteers – Logan has a multitude of talented and inspirational young people.
With a drive for success and a mind for business, these Logan young guns are making their mark on the region and beyond.
Quest News has listed 25 talented community members 25 or under who are using their influence and skills to succeed.
Find out who they are and then scroll to the bottom of the list to tell us who you believe is having the biggest influence on the region despite – or maybe because of – their young age.
See the list in alphabetical order below.
ZOE ALLISON, 17
The Loganlea State High School student is a strong spokeswoman and representative for women in leadership and won the Shannon Fentiman award last year.
She is a leader and volunteer surf lifesaver in the school’s LYDP program.
Zoe is completing a course as a dental assistant and one day hopes to study to be a dentist (ATAR pathway).
She is a First Nations woman who has overcome many personal challenges but still shines.
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NATALIE BURNS, 17
Emmaus College’s Tradition Captain, Natalie Burns has already achieved more in her 17 years in the area of youth advocacy, than many of us would in a lifetime.
In just her second year as a volunteer for the United Nations (UN) Youth program Natalie, along with 10 other Queensland representatives, has been invited to participate in the UN National Conference in Perth this July.
Natalie says the opportunity to speak for Australia’s youth, and the leadership connections, are what first attracted her to the program.
“Being able to get the voice of young people heard and to have a say about what needs to be changed was enticing,” she said.
“However, making a positive impact for people from all walks of life was the biggest appeal (for joining the UN Youth Program).
“At last year’s State Conference, I made connections and spoke with Imogen Kane, the 2023 UN Youth Representative, and listened and learnt about and from her story.
“That was a great and inspiring experience.”
At the national conference Natalie will undertake a model UN contest, public speaking, and data collection.
All the data and statistics will help to paint a picture about life satisfaction and other pertinent issues on the minds of the youth community of Australia.
Closer to home, Natalie is an active member of her local church’s youth group, mentoring participants and facilitating with summer camps, socials, and other events.
MONIQUE CASTRISSION, 21
Monique Castrission has amassed 169,000 Instagram followers and more than 370,000 Tiktok followers, for her self-love and positive body image posts.
The 21-year-old’s posts feature photographs not often seen on Instagram profiles, with a combination of posed gym selfies and relaxed photos from different angles, showing that no body is perfect.
Monique had struggled with her own self image when she first started sharing about the importance of positive body image but she wanted to do something good with her platform and if that meant being a bit uncomfortable, she was willing to do it.
“It was scary to show all sides of myself when I wasn't really confident in myself yet but I truly think it is what got me to where I am today,” Ms Castrission said.
“I fully accept myself and love all parts of me, of course I still have my off days, but don’t we all?
“I want to be the page that someone can go to when they are feeling down about themselves or life and hopefully make them feel better, even if it is just one per cent better.”
Ms Castrission created her very own card game and turned it into a business, Blind Pick-Up, which is a drinking game, specialising in girls’ nights.
She shared her little invention on her small Tiktok following back when it was small and the game went viral.
Ms Castrission was a high school captain and completed a Duke of Edinburgh Gold award.
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BILLY CHAPMAN, 9
Bill placed third in the 1km cross country at the National All Schools Cross Country Championships, a race which has more than 45 competitors.
The result placed him first among Queensland runners at the Championships, which is one of the largest events of the season.
Billy has the fastest qualifying time for the districts this year in both the 1500m and 800m races for his age division.
His next competition for 2023 will be the districts.
HENRY CHAPMAN, 11
Henry is the South Coast District Champion, Beenleigh Zone Age Champion and Regional Age Champion in 3km cross country.
The 11-year-old placed fourth in the Queensland All Schools Cross Country Championships 2023.
Henry has the fastest qualifying time for the districts this year in both the 1500m and 800m races for his age division.
His next competition for 2023 will be the districts.
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GABRIELLE CROTTY, 20
Rochedale’s Gabrielle Crotty has made a point of helping the homeless and disadvantaged in the community.
Named Logan’s Young Citizen of the Year in 2020, she’s volunteered for charities including the Red Cross, Sheltered by Grace and St Vincent de Paul.
She was nominated for the award by her former maths teacher at Mount Gravatt State High School.
She also co-ordinated an anti-bullying week at her school.
Gabrielle has ran a blanket drive and a say no to bullying week with Vinnies Australia.
The Rochedale teen has worked as child services and kindergarten educator and nowadays works as a substitute teacher in Wollongong, having completed a Bachelor of Primary Education at Griffith University.
JACK VAN DAM, 13
Jack is the 2023 Australian Diving Age Champion for his division.
The 2023 Australian Diving Nationals were held in Sydney on April 11-17 where there was a 236 divers competing from all over the country and New Zealand – one of the largest talent pools there has been.
Jack qualified to compete in the 12/13 year age group for 1m Springboard, 3m Springboard and 5m platform.
He also joined forces with another Queenslander for 3m Springboard event.
Jack won gold in the 3m Springboard and also recorded a PB scoring more than 200 points.
He also won a bronze in the 1m Springboard, also with a PB.
The platform event was next, while scoring a PB, he placed fourth and then fifth in his 3m Springboard synchronised event.
Jacks’ total points for this competition saw him obtain the 2023 Australian Diving Age Champion for 12/13 year old male.
Jack is also a talented swimmer who plays the guitar.
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SAMUEL GLANCY, 15
Samuel Glancy was named the region’s 2017 Young Citizen of the Year at nine-years-old, for his contributions to the Starlight Children’s Foundation.
He raised more than $1600 by selling artistic calendars he created with his own photography.
Samuel also provided free photography shoots for sick children and their families, a keen photographer since he was two.
He did a 15 days of kindness, which saw him baking cookies for the elderly and do school fundraiser, with 30 families donating school supplies for children in need.
When he was in Year 7 at Calvary Christian College, he raised thousands of dollars for needy children and received the prestigious SchoolAid National Award.
It was presented to him by Governor-general David Hurley through a very special Covid-19 style Zoom presentation.
Samuel received the Outstanding Individual award in recognition of his leadership, support and direction.
Samuel has also received recognition for his philanthropic causes such as his Kids4Kids School Supply Drive, which has raised more than 70,000 school supplies for children in Logan.
He also has a National Young Leaders Day award, which was presented by Halogen Australia CEO Sean Gordon.
The 15-year-old has featured on the Today Show and is has been a Baton Bearer for the Commonwealth Games.
AIDAN HODDER, 23
Classical baritone, freelance actor, self-taught composer Aidan Hodder has had a hunger for performance ever since partaking in Opera Queensland’s high school residency program at Springwood State High School.
He is a graduate of Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University with a Bachelor of Music in Performance.
Aidan has returned to the Conservatorium to complete a Graduate Certificate in Music studies, where his affinity for acting has lent itself to numerous comic and speaking roles among student operas.
Aidan also led the Springwood State High School Choir last year and Semester 2 this year.
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TEGAN HODGKISS, 25
An RSPCA Wacol volunteer, Tegan Hodgkiss loves dogs, enjoys training and getting dogs adopted to loving families.
Having volunteered for four years at the shelter, Tegan features in dog training videos as an example to other volunteers and also spends much time in the back-of-house operations.
The 25-year-old goes to Wacol every Saturday and lends a hand whenever she needs to be called in.
She also recently helped out with the RSPCA’s Million Paws Walk.
Ms Hodgkiss said her most rewarding experience was when she showed an adopting family how well she had trained a puppy in the yard, with the family saying Tegan was the reason they adopted the puppy.
Workwise, she is an administration member at a hairdressing and barber college.
Ms Hodgkiss has also volunteered to help run local fun and colour runs for cancer.
When she previously worked at McDonald’s, she was on the McHappy Day committee which involved spending time with the children at the Ronald McDonald House, presenting them with the money raised.
During her schooling at Clairvaux Mackillop College, Ms Hodgkiss loved drama and actively volunteered her time for the department.
HOLLY HUDSON, 19
Holly Hudson’s advocacy and hard work to assist the homeless, especially youth homeless in the community, is a passion that drives her to give back as much as she can to the world.
Her family has experienced housing insecurity in the past.
Holly helped develop the Queensland Government’s Towards Ending Homelessness for Young Queenslanders strategy, through consultation work she did with the housing department.
She engaged with young people, who are currently experiencing homelessness but were not comfortable talking directly to policy makers and sharing their experiences and stories.
The former Rivermount College student was also part of a group of youth advocates with the Queensland Family and Child Commission that was asked to share their lived experience and also provide feedback on the draft of the policy.
Finally she helped to launch it through engaging in media opportunities.
The 19-year-old’s youth advocacy has spanned across a variety of organisations through her work with the QFCC, Bravehearts, the ANCHDA and personal involvement with youth advisory councils, youth parliament.
Through her work, Ms Hudson’s has helped to use both her lived experience and amplify the voices of other vulnerable young people.
Ms Hudson is studying a dual degree in business and justice and is also an entrepreneurial scholar, having been offered a QUT scholarship to develop her social enterprise that focuses on sexual consent and reproductive health education.
She hopes to assemble a team of professionals, including GP‘s, sexologists, relationship experts, gynaecologists, psychologists, and social workers, who will collaborate to deliver the educational content.
Ms Hudson was involved with the local junior chamber of commerce where she founded the Beenleigh Beats event, which brought local talent from the schools into the community and allowed the space for business started by the students involved in the BOP industry accelerator program offered through the chamber of commerce.
She currently works as a financial planning assistant for a finance firm and as a bartender on the weekends at the Beenleigh Tavern.
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CHARLIE JOHNSTONE, 18
Logan’s Charlie Johnstone founded a program called Kid to Kid when he was 15, to help build the entrepreneurial capabilities of young people.
As a 14-year-old he won the national Origin LittleBIGideas competition and as part of the prize he flew to NASA to have lunch with an astronaut.
The former Canterbury College student received the 2019 Young Citizen of the Year Award for Logan.
At school, Charlie competed in Australia’s largest open government and open data hackathon GovHack.
Using his understanding of language-based code for web orientated algorithms, Charlie successfully developed an app to help tackle the issue of common waste items affecting sea life.
Charlie was short-listed for the Premier’s Climate Change Ambassador Position and is a Gold Medal winner in the International World Scholars Cup.
The 18-year-old is now student at QUT studying a bachelor of laws, working as a law clerk at Right Law.
JOE KEEN, 16
Emmaus College Year 11 student Joe Keen has been identified as “one to watch” in the fields of marine biology and conservation.
In 2022, Joe won an Australian Defence Force Future Innovator Award which is given to the ‘next generation of innovators, critical thinkers and problem solvers.’ Joe was recognised for his commitment and success in science.
Joe has such a strong passion for conservation that he is already into his second semester of university studies in the field of environmental science.
He is expertly managing his university and school commitments and achieving high distinctions for both.
Somehow Joe also finds time to pursue other areas of interest including basketball and music.
Joe has been a guitar player for many years and is working toward his Grade 8 level in the Australian Music Examination Board (AMEB) – the third highest level in AMEB.
TAJ KELLY, 20
Taj Kelly graduated from Loganlea State High School as a Year 12 last year.
A multiple Cross County Age Champion, he represented Logan at district carnivals and was elected House Sports Captain at the start of 2022.
That year he won Loganlea’s Age Champion for Athletics and Cross Country and represented the district team for Cross Country running, narrowly missing out on Met East selection.
He was also awarded the 2022 Loganlea SHS, Senior Sports Person of the Year.
A member of Loganlea’s LYDP Program (Loganlea Youth Development Program – Surf Lifesaving) for five years, he became a qualified lifesaver at Kirra Surf Lifesaving Club in 2020.
Over the three years that Taj was in the program as a lifesaver, he volunteered for 166 hours on weekends and public holidays.
He helped with a number of beach rescues, on one occasion spotting a child struggling to stay afloat in the surf.
He rescuing the child, administered first aid and oxygen and looking after them until ambulance officers arrived.
Taj has competed at a number of external Long Distance running competitions and has played club AFL for Springwood for many years.
Taj was recognised as a candidate for a school-based traineeship at Loganlea State High School in 2022 and was selected to complete a Cert II in Horticulture.
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ELLIE LENEHAM, 11
Ellie holds the Queensland record for under-13 hammer throw and is also the state champion.
She represented Queensland in the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in 2023, where she placed second with a throw of 27.78m, putting her second in Australia in the under-13 women’s hammer throw event
The Rivermount College student placed first in the combined discus at the Little Athletics Queensland Combined Championships 2023 and fourth in discus at the Queensland Athletics Championships.
Moving on to the shot put, Ellie came fourth at the Queensland Athletics Championships
Ellie is also a talented singer, recently appearing on stage at the Rivermount College, Riversounds event.
GEORGIA LEO, 7
Calvary Christian College student Georgia Leo is an inspirational environmental advocate, school and community leader at just seven-years-old, while also living with a rare genetic condition.
Her condition is x linked hypophosphatemia.
It affects every cell in her body but predominantly kids experience bone deformity, so it can affect mobility.
She had early intervention so she doesn't have bone deformity but she did experience fatigue before she could access burosambab.
Georgia is passionate about the environment and to help educate her peers she is writing a book about bugs which contains a protecting biodiversity message.
She does educational environmental videos for the community and recently did a talk at her school for students in two grades above her.
At six-years-old, Georgia was highly commended at the Logan Eco Awards in 2022.
She also championed a petition for public toilets at Bega Park Kingston that rallied 535 signatures.
The result of her petition got pushed by supporting adults with council.
Cr Hermann Vorster from the City of Gold Coast Council asked Georgia to do a video with him that was about native bees and how the African Tulip Tree is toxic to them.
Cr Hermann made a commitment to his division to remove them on council property if they reported them.
Georgia did a take at Griffith University last year, opening a symposium called “Splash” which was being held to discuss how a collaboration of government, organisations and community could develop a pathway to improve the lives and futures for kids aged zero-eight in Logan.
Every year at school she has been given the opportunity to lead her class by teaching parts of the curriculum using her pet insects.
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ALICIA LONGLAND, 19
Alicia Longland’s professional journey began in Logan after studying Certificate II in Baking at TAFE Queensland’s Loganlea Campus in Year 12 through TAFE at School.
Now the 19-year-old from Crestmead is completing her Patisserie Apprenticeship at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sanctuary Cove.
Her teachers describe her as an industry leader in the making with a passion, work ethic and dedication to baking that will take her worldwide.
“I decided to become a Pastry Chef, and part of my studies included an internship, so I called the Intercontinental Hotel to ask if I could complete it with them,” Ms Longland said.
“After seeing the fantastic hotel kitchens and meeting the executive head chef, Hamish, I realised I would learn more by working full-time and completing my studies as an apprentice. It was the best decision I could have ever made.
“Hamish and the other chefs push me to understand five-star standards, my pastry team and I work hard together towards our deadlines each day, and I’m meeting people who share the same passions as me all the time.
“Although I’m still learning each day, Hamish wants my input and influence on the menus.”
Finishing her apprenticeship is now Alicia’s number one priority, and she’s gaining more confidence every day.
When fully qualified, she wants to travel and work in the Intercontinental Hotel network, with The Caribbean Islands on the list.
“Don’t shy away from any opportunities that come across your path,” Ms Longland said.
“If you hear something that might interest you, pick up the phone and contact the people who can help you realise your dreams.”
CAIDEN MCFARLANE, 15
Caiden won the Australian 800m and 1500m titles in 2022 for both School Sport and Athletics Australia, gaining a total of four Australian Championship titles that year.
He also won the 2022 Gold Coast Marathon 4km road race, beating a star-studded elite, national class field.
In doing so he smashed the race record that was set in 2010, by 13 seconds.
Notably, he also defeated Bart Leeton from Victoria who holds several state and nationals track records and is the current National Cross Country Champion.
He is one of only four runners in history to achieve the under-15 Year 800m and 1500m double at the Australian Championships.
He is the fourth Queenslander ever to win the under-15 Year 800m race – making his time the fourth quickest in history of the Australian Championships.
Caiden is in a small squad of elite national runners coached by his father.
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KENDAL QUELCH, 13
Runcorn State High School’s Kendal Quelch is a Queensland and Australian representative across three sports, a school leader and has won the principal’s award every term she’s been at high school.
In the sport of AllBoarding, a mix of wakeboarding and kneeboarding together at the same time, Kendal has been Australian Champion in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
She currently is ranked second in the world, trailing by two points.
For touch football she is representing the USA in touch football in July at the Atlantic Youth Cup in England, playing in the 15s mixed USA national squad.
Kendal will be in Bundaberg for the State Championships next week and has previously played in the National Youth Championships in 2021 and 2022.
Kendal was also selected in the Met West squash and rugby teams.
The 13-year-old plays rugby league for the Rochedale Tigers and this is the first year they have had a female competition at Rochedale.
She trains early mornings on the water for 12 hours a week, more in school holidays.
She plays touch at Springfield and Bmta three times a week and has league training twice a week.
Kendal started playing OzTag less than a year ago and has been selected in the Qld OzTAg team twice.
The Stretton teen is also a straight A or B student in the classroom and was sports captain last year.
She has received a principal's award every term, making it nine from nine and has been awarded Sportswoman of the year two years running at Runcorn.
She was age champion in swimming, cross country and athletics last year, and is currently age champion for swimming and cross country with athletics scheduled for the end of this term.
Volunteer wise, Kendal donates blankets and clothes every winter and has dropped off pillows and blankets to the homeless.
Her future goal is to play in the NRLW, and after school and while trying to achieve this she would like to be an engineer.
KAYLEE TAMALA
The Year 11 student at Canterbury College is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to court sports.
In 2022, she was a finalist for the Logan City Sports Awards after being named in the under-15 Queensland merit teams for both volleyball and netball.
She was also awarded most valuable player of the tournament at the U15 National School Girls’ Volleyball Championships, an accolade that makes her highly sort after for 2023.
Tamala is also a first-class sprinter, representing Canterbury as part of their Taipans Athletics Club in the TAS competition.
JULIET THOTTUNKAL, 19
Boronia Heights’ Juliet Thottunkal was named Logan’s Young Citizen of the Year in 2021, for her volunteering at charities such as the Smith Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, Asthma Foundation and Save the Children.
In 2020, Juliet raised more than $5000 for the Cancer Council of Queensland, holding a horticultural exhibition in her backyard ‘paradise’ garden.
Her friend was diagnosed with leukaemia and she wanted to raise money for him.
Her garden has 150 fruit and nut trees, around 30 herbal plants, and 400 exotic and native plants across 5000 sqm.
Juliet was house captain at Brisbane Girls Grammar School and is a member of the Logan Youth Action Group.
The 19-year-old is the co-founder of Diversity with Dance which has developed inclusive dancing programs through Access Community Services, Logan City Council, City View and the PCYC.
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EBONY YEOMANS
After taking home the gold in Queensland‘s WorldSkills Regional Championships, floristry graduate Ebony Yeomans is ready to represent the sunshine state at the WorldSkills Australia National Championships.
Now working at Unveiling Poppy in Daisy Hill, Ebony credits her TAFE Queensland training and her work experience for giving her the skills to create floral displays in a time-pressure environment.
In August, she‘ll compete against the best florists from each state and territory at WorldSkills Australia National Championships in Melbourne.
The national competition is a three-day event where more than 500 young people drawn from 34 regions across Australia come together to vie for the title of WorldSkills Australia National Champion.
The event will put her floristry skills and ability to the test by combing her artistry and technical skills for assessment. Winning will see her make the national team representing Australia at the International Competition in Lyon, France, in 2024.
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