30 young people making a difference in their regional community
From volunteers and small business owners to sportspersons and regional award winners, here are the Tablelands’ 30 under 30 influentials to keep your eye on. SEE WHO MADE THE LIST
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They’re making moves in the regional community and subsequently making a name for themselves. From entrepreneurial minds to volunteers and aspiring engineers, we’ve found 30 individuals under 30 making a difference on the Tablelands.
CHANTELLE PEDERSEN
Small business owner and volunteer
Chantelle is well-known as a strong part of the Tablelands community, from working at the council to starting her own business, she is also volunteering as a member of Rotary and FNQ Foster Farms. Starting her digital communication career at the Tablelands Regional Council, Chantelle has worked her way to starting her own social media agency — Stardust Stuff.
JAIMI PURSE
Small business owner
Jaimi grew up on the Tablelands and started her 11-year-long career in hairdressing within her known community, opening and operating own salon before moving to Cairns. In Cairns, she came into the Wildrose Hair and Beauty team as a manager, and is running the studio.
TAHNEE DILGER
Tablelands Young Citizen of the Year 2022
With aspirations of becoming an engineer, Tahnee is a recent graduate from 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 2022.
CAITLIN WADLEY
Aspiring neuroscientist
Representing the Tablelands at multiple events, Caitlin has attended both the Afghanistan Avenue of Honour Dawn Service and the Army Leadership Conference in Canberra as a guest speaker. Also pursuing STEM subjects, she has many academic accolades including winning a neuroscience competition, the 2021 Queensland Brain Bee Challenge. As such, Caitlin was also nominated for Tablelands Young Citizen of the Year 2022.
16-year-old Amy Hunter is a well-known name in the region’s cricketing teams. In her young career, Amy has represented the region and the state multiple times over, including the under-15 Queensland country squad. She is recently playing in the Brisbane Premier league for the Southside Rockets.
BREANNE, TRAVIS AND KRISTEN WADLEY
A family of young siblings taking over the sailing world, the Wadley’s all have made a name for themselves in their years of competitive sailing after practising for many years on Lake Tinaroo.
In his career, Travis has scored titles including under-13 Open Bic world champion, and competed at the Australian Open and NZ Open in Queenstown.
Kristen has won multiple world championships and national championships at junior levels and won the 2018 Women’s Laser 4.7 Australian and Oceania Championship. She is a qualified sailing instructor and a member of the Queensland Academy of Sport.
Dominating the O’pen Skiff sailing class, Breanne has won state titles including Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Like her older sister, Breanne is a qualified sailing instructor assistant and teaches others within the region.
EMILY MILLS
Young rising gymnast
Taking out the Tablelands Junior Sports Award for 2022, Emily spends a majority of her time at her own gym. She spends 17 hours a week training herself in gymnastics and coaching students at her gym. Currently the women’s artistic gymnastics Level 9 Queensland vault champion, Emily is also a reserve for the Queensland team to attend the national titles.
TIARNI MCCARTHY
High school sports co-ordinator
Tiarni is known throughout the region for her involvement in community sports and her role as sports co-ordinator at Malanda State High School. Nominated for this list by her co-workers, Tiarni is dedicated to organising district sports and carnival days for the kids as well as acting as the junior co-ordinator for the Atherton touch association. A Tablelands resident, Tiarni’s effort in sport is to ensure that the kids of the region are getting enough opportunities to go further in something they’re passionate about.
ALBINA NICEFORO
Classical music performer
Mareeba local Albina, 15, practises her singing for a herd of cattle on her family farm. But the young Tablelands teenager is now an international figure. Having had the opportunity to perform with a live orchestra, Albina was recently announced as the winner of the Teen Classical Voice for the Asia Music International Grand Prix Semi-final and awarded the Grand Prix of the Angel Voice Winners League, an online competition in Serbia.
TENEILLE LYNCH
Latin dance class teacher
A Tablelands resident, Teneille has spent the past three years in Brisbane. She recently moved back home and is starting up a business of running solo samba and salsa classes at Festival Hall, Ravenshoe. At the age of 27, Teneille is looking at expanding her business — Latin Dance Tablelands – to Atherton by the end of April.
JAZMYN PEASE
Environmentalist and small business owner
Malanda teen Jazmyn started her business Jaz Bagz at the age of 10 after being selected to participate in an environmental education program. The program focused on creating an environmental project with Jazmyn wanting to reduce the amount of plastic bags used every day. Since then, the community has turned to support Jazmyn as she makes reusable bags out of recycled materials and clothing, with people borrowing and returning bags daily to the business.
ROBERT SMITH
Disability support and volunteer
Robert is a full-time disability support worker and when he isn’t helping his clients get involved in the community, he spends his time volunteering at the Tolga Bat Hospital. Helping to look after and care for endangered spectacled flying foxes, Robert is a valued member of the Tablelands.
LAUREN BROWN
Personal trainer
Starting her personal training career in 2020, Lauren Brown is a Tablelands local who started out working at Six Degrees Gym and Bouldering Atherton. Training everything from one-on-one to group fitness to kiddie bootcamp, Lauren made sure to get the entire community involved with her love of fitness. Lauren recently moved her business to the Sunshine Coast where she’s operating as a PT at Fitstop.
GEORGINA HUMPHRIES
Comedian
Originally a Millaa Millaa local, Georgina moved to Brisbane to pursue her passion for comedy, but has returned to the region multiple times to perform special shows including one at Malanda, and returning to Millaa Millaa yearly. Georgina puts together her show — The Thriller – as a memory to her hometown, using comedy to incorporate farm life in the city.
KARA TRIMBLE
Young sportsperson
A superstar of Mareeba’s CrossFit community, Kara began competitive CrossFit in 2020 and was a coach to the kids before starting her defence force training in Wagga Wagga. Starting with an All Stars competition, Kara won second place in the Oceania competition held in Brisbane last year. She has represented Mareeba in athletics, touch football, volleyball and rugby league, and has been recognised by the Mareeba Shire Council multiple times for her dedication to community and leadership.
GIULIA PILAT
Mareeba Young Citizen of the Year 2021
Giulia has been recognised as Mareeba’s Young Citizen of the Year in 2021 for making a positive difference in her community as she pursues a career in medicine. With multiple academic achievements, she was selected to participate in the Griffith University Stem Horizons Program, travelling to Brisbane and the Gold Coast to focus on studying infectious diseases. On top of her academic career, Giulia has also made a name for herself as a volunteer within the community. She has participated in the Great Wheelbarrow Race to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis research, cycling from Cairns to Cooktown to raise money for FNQ cardiac care, and spending time volunteering at Rosie’s Food Van.
LEON GRUNDLING
Rising athletics star
Achieving Junior Sportsperson of the Year 2021 at Mareeba Shire Council’s Australia Day Awards, Leon has represented Mareeba at local, regional and state levels of athletics. Competing in the 2020 State Championships, Leon achieved two silver medals for hammer throw and shot put, and has attended the Australian Nationals in Sydney.
CONNOR LE’GEAR
Youth parliamentarian
Having recently completed a diploma in youth work, Connor is a continuous advocate for the Tablelands community. Nominated for multiple youth cultural awards, he was also a youth ambassador for the Tablelands Regional Council where he worked to launch the Youth Strategic Plan to improve young citizens’ liveability on the Tablelands.
TYLER WILLIAMS
Volunteer
Tyler has been an active volunteer with the State Emergency Service for eight years. Completing 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.”
RHYLEE WILKINSON
Musician
Rhylee, 17, is a talented musician and Atherton local. A singer performing everything from pop to soul, Rhylee taught herself guitar and also plays keyboard. Posting covers to her Facebook and booking gigs around the region, Rhylee is widely recognised for her artistic contribution to the community.
CHRIS DILGER
Engineer
Growing up in Kairi, Chris attended Atherton State High School where he graduated as the school’s dux and a prefect. He has built his engineering career over the past years since graduation, studying computer science at Swinburne University, and moving to Melbourne where he now works as a senior engineer at IT service and consulting company, Versent.
BRADEN STEWART
Small business owner
Tablelands business owner Braden is only 20, but currently runs two small businesses in the Atherton community. Starting up his hairdressing business BLK Hair Studio at the age of 16, he started doing hair dressing at the age of 12, helping out at a hair salon before starting his apprenticeship at 13 and becoming qualified before opening BLK. Braden also took over Silo Coffee with his mother after she expressed interest in running the local cafe together.
RILEY VALLANCE
Young Citizen of the Year 2020
Recognised for his volunteering in the Tablelands community, Riley has received multiple awards including Young Citizen of the Year 2020 from the Tablelands Regional Council and the Order of Australia Secondary Schools Citizenship Award for his services to Atherton State High School. Now attending the University of NSW Canberra, Riley actively participates in his sailing club as an instructor and coach, and wants to move into volunteering his time to teach coding and robotics to school students.
CATHERINE CLARK
Small business owner
Young Tablelands resident Catherine Clark started her cleaning business Curly Clean in the middle of the pandemic but has successfully watched her homegrown career thrive. In her early 20s, Catherine is a First Nations business owner that Tablelands Regional Council has their eyes on, nominating Catherine for her entrepreneurial skills.
EVA CONDULLES
Small business owner
Starting her career in hairdressing at the age of 14, Eva 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.
EMILY DIXON
Small business owner
As a high school student and a small-business owner, Emily has had to work twice as hard to balance work and studies. After only opening her business Organising with Em a year and a half ago, business savvy Emily now has four employees helping to serve 160 people per week. Using this to her advantage, and working after school and weekends, she credits her business growth to her very supportive client base. Picture: Supplied
MELINDA OBAH
Volunteer and sportsperson
Year 12 student and Boarding Captain at Mount St Bernard College, Melinda Obah is a big sister to new students, helping them to settle into their home away from home. Also using her time as a volunteer, she spends her time with Rosie’s on the Street program. A rugby league sportsperson, Melinda completed a referee course at the District sports trials, hoping to pursue a career in the rugby community.
GEORGIA DOULL
Emerging rural leader
With frequent involvement in the Malanda Show Society, Georgia has recently been nominated as an emerging leader by the Queensland Agriculture Shows Awards. Becoming involved with agricultural shows at the age of five, her family ran the well-loved local animal nursery. Consistently involved in the Malanda Show, Georgia won the 2016 Malanda Show Dairy Queen and Princess competition, and since became the committee’s secretary and is working to extend the princess competition to a youth ambassador program.
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