Lismore, Tweed, Ballina and Byron 30 most influential under 30 revealed
From footy players to musicians, activists and more, there is a wealth of young talent across the Northern Rivers. Read their amazing stories here.
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They are among our youngest and brightest shining stars from the Northern Rivers.
From actors to business owners and sporting greats - our region is full of young guns leaving their mark on the region.
Our reporters from the Tweed, Byron, Ballina and Lismore regions have compiled a list of 30 of some of the most impressive community members under 30 years who are wielding their influence on the region.
Find out who they are and scroll to the bottom of the list to tell us who do you believe is having the biggest influence on the region despite – or maybe because of – their young age.
Nathan Parker, 25
There are few young Aussies who can overcome adversity quite like Lismore’s Nathan Parker.
Mr Parker was on route to his dream job as a fighter pilot when a military bus accident left him badly injured.
He returned to civilian flying within three months despite having his left hand amputated.
He then resumed military and university duties within seven months.
He became the first upper-limb amputee in the Australian Defence Force Academy’s history to complete his final 12 months and graduate.
After completing his degree in 2017, Mr Parker was medically discharged in 2019 to become a commercial pilot.
Mr Parker went on to represent Australia in the 2017 and 2018 Invictus Games, winning nine medals including three gold in Sydney.
He also became a well-deserved recipient of NSW Young Australian Of The Year this year.
Mr Parker now works as a public speaker motivating other Northern Rivers youth to achieve their dreams.
Kirby Barker, 26
This Evans Head go-getter is creating a better future for the Bundjalung community.
As an educator and cultural adviser with Evans Head-Woodburn Preschool, she develops programs about Aboriginal heritage and culture for students.
She was awarded 2014’s Far North Coast Trainee of the Year for Children Services for her fantastic work educating our region’s youth about their heritage and land.
Ms Barker was also a crucial voice in the landmark native title determination earlier this year which resulted in 52 parcels of land in Coraki and Evans Head being handed back to traditional owners.
James Joblin, 21
At just 21, this rising hairstylist and social media star has taken Australia by storm.
The former Ballina resident and Australian representative for netball is best recognised for the comedy and reaction videos he posts to his james.joblin TikTok account.
His hilarious musings have already amassed him more than 410,000 followers on the video platform.
Lily Harrison, 19
Corndale resident Lily Harrison has been making waves in the community since she was 15.
Seeing a need in her community for sanitary products and basic toiletries to give to homeless and vulnerable women, Ms Harrison formed Period Pack.
In early 2016, she became aware of a young Aboriginal woman who gave birth to a stillborn baby.
She made a maternity pack of products for the grieving mother and since then has made more than 100 maternity packs for women using the Aboriginal Maternal Infant Health Service.
The project has grown exponentially since then with regular packing drives, bag-making working bees, and drop offs.
Her community-minded efforts also resulted in her being awarded Lismore’s Australia Day Awards Young Citizen of the Year in 2018.
Ben Auckram, 17
Athlete Ben Auckram is known a “constant” record breaker with world podium potential.
The Lismore Workers Swim Team athlete set new Australian and state records in the S7 age 16, 400m freestyle and 200m freestyle and a NSW record for the 100m backstroke in 2020.
This year, the para swimmer, who lives with spina bifida, also made the Swimming NSW Para Potential Squad and qualified for Olympic trials.
Maia Mitchell, 28
From humble beginnings on the Lismore stage, this talented actor and singer has taken her career to Hollywood.
For Aussies, Ms Mitchell may be best known for playing Brittany Flune in the children’s television series Mortified but since then she’s also appeared in the successful Disney Teen Beach franchise and TV shows The Fosters and Good Trouble.
Ms Mitchell started acting when she was 12 and moved to Los Angeles at just 18.
The former Trinity Catholic College student has also been nominated for a range of coveted Teen Choice awards over the years.
Sally Flannery, 27
Business leader and community activist Sally Flannery has shown there’s a lot to love about Lismore.
Ms Flannery grew up in Ipswich but moved to the Northern Rivers to become a ceramic artist and studied at the Lismore TAFE.
In that short time, Ms Flannery soon became a Lismore business advocate, starting with her creation of the popular Support Lismore ♥ Small Business Facebook page to encourage residents to shop local.
As the manager for marketing company Lion & Lamb, Ms Flannery is further boosting Lismore’s name as a small business hot spot.
During the pandemic, she also ran charity drives for struggling restaurants.
And now, the young gun has launched a new endeavour - her nakednaturalskin skin care line.
Hayley Oakes, 17
Ever since she took up mountain bike racing, Hayley Oakes has been powering through the ranks at competitions, giving her older and more experienced competitors grey hairs.
Ms Oakes was just 16 when she won the AusCycling National Championship U19 Women’s XCO division in Tasmania this year.
She finished more than five minutes ahead of her nearest competition and blew onlookers away.
The Emmanuel Anglican College student has also won U17 Women’s events at the Canberra Off-Road cyclists XCO and the XCC Tier 1 National Cup races in Stromlo Forest Park.
Lachlan Coe, 16
Casino teen Lachlan Coe is making his mark in a couple of sporting arenas.
Lachlan excels in softball and baseball and was selected to play for the Australian Softball Team in the Under 14s International Friendship Series.
He was further named in the NSW State Squad for national competition for 2021.
Lachlan was selected to play baseball for New South Wales after trialling for NSW Showcase.
He was also named most valuable player for Lismore Workers Baseball Club two years in a row and was awarded the Baxter Medal for Player of the Year.
Jacob Paulsen, 24
Also known as JK-47, the Tweed Heads rapper has already won Triple J Unearthed’s artist of the year, released an album and performed at the State of Origin.
The Indigenous Australian and activist released his debut album, Made For This, in September 2020 and was this year nominated for the album of the year at the National Indigenous Music Awards in Darwin.
Mr Paulson encourages other young Indigenous people to pursue their arts.
“Sometimes we let the obstacles we face on the outside dictate how we feel on the inside, and that’s dangerous because the strength and perseverance we need to overcome these obstacles come from within,” he said.
“Nurture your spirit as well as your physical body.
“You can’t have one without the other.”
Bijang Slabb, 22
Hailing from Fingal Head, Bijang Slabb had always wanted to get into the modelling industry but wasn’t sure of the best approach.
It was his dad’s work that ultimately triggered his discovery as a model during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
“He did a big music production for the Commonwealth Games so I was in one of the newspapers to promote it and that’s where I was scouted by Viviens model management,” he said.
“I was 18 years old.”
His modelling work began with brands like City Beach and Billabong before he landed work with other brands, including Bonds.
“Now I’m an ambassador for Myer,” he said.
A proud Bundjalung man, Mr Slabb said celebrating his culture was important to him.
“My heritage is a big part of who I am and has been ever since I was a little kid,” he said.
“We grew up and are still learning the laws and stories of our culture.
“I think it’s important to recognise the history but also the progress that we’ve made.
“I also think it’s important to recognise the diversity as well how Indigenous people come in all different shapes and colours.”
Jahvis Loveday, 20
Byron Shire raised filmmaker Jahvis Loveday has been getting some big recognition for his work.
He finished his studies at SAE Institute in Sydney last year but has already been making waves.
His passion for his craft started when he picked up a camera to film a family holiday.
He loved capturing those moments so much he hasn’t looked back.
He has more than 150 videos on YouTube.
His short film Home, which he made with Joy Ben Hur and Alysse Burford, claimed Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year Award at the Byron Bay International Film Festival and claimed accolades in other festivals including the Byron All Shorts, which was a part of Flickerfest.
A more recent short film, the “semi autobiographical poetic documentary” BAMA, which stars his younger brother Elijah, will screen in the Australian pavilion at the World Expo in Dubai.
He said filmmaking brought a fresh perspective to life.
“It broadens my perspective on the lessons I’ve learned from my life,” he said.
Mr Loveday said he wanted to travel around Australia, focusing on Aboriginal place names and teaching first nations children to skate, all with the cameras rolling of course.
Tallulah Morton, 29
Former Wollumbin High School student Tallulah Morton was visiting the Gold Coast the day she was scouted by Katz Models.
She was living in Tyalgum at the time and went on to do a modelling course which led her to modelling all over the world.
“Some of my highlights would be working for Hermes, Dior, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, especially when Jean Paul Gaultier would design his haute couture gowns on me and involve me in the creative process,” she said.
“I’m also really excited about launching my own clothing label soon mixing my art and fashion.”
She said her favourite thing about modelling was travelling and meeting other creative people.
Savannah Fitzpatrick, 25
What started as just joining a sport for fun and making friends turned into an Olympic dream for Cabarita’s Savannah Fitzpatrick.
She said she was inspired to get into hockey by her parents.
Her mum played at a state level and her dad played on the Australian team the Kookaburras.
Some of the highlights of her hockey career include playing at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the recent 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
“It was the first time my sister and I got to play together for our country at a major tournament,” she said.
During the hockey season her training goes between two to four hours, six days a week.
“It’s definitely a busy schedule, but playing for the Hockeyroos is my dream job, and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said.
“I feel incredibly privileged to get to do it.”
When Savannah’s not training or competing she spends time on her primary education degree while living in Perth.
“I really enjoy simple things to start or end my day like yoga or taking a walk or spending time by the beach, it helps remind me of home at Cabarita,” she said.
Cheyse Blair, 29
Hailing from Tweed Heads, Cheyse Blair has had an impressive rugby league career.
Cheyse started his league career with the Sydney Roosters in the national youth competition in 2010 before signing on with the Parramatta Eels making his NRL debut in 2012.
He went on to play for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Melbourne Storm before moving to England to play in the Super League for the Castleford Tigers.
Nicholas Hamilton, 21
Born in Lismore, Nicholas Hamilton is an actor and musician.
The Australian entertainment industry took notice of him at age 13 when he won a best actor award at Tropfest Short Film Festival for the film Time by Liam Connor.
His first role in a feature film was as Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes’ son in the 2015 Australian drama-suspense film Strangerland.
His first American performance was as Rellian in 2016’s Captain Fantastic, for which he was nominated for best supporting actor at the Young Artist Awards.
In 2017, he played Henry Bowers in IT.
He returned as young Henry Bowers in It Chapter Two, released in 2019, among other recent roles.
In January 2021, he released his debut single, Different Year, and singles noRoom, In Line and Pretty Young, the latter becoming the title track of his 2021 debut EP.
After living in Los Angeles, Hamilton moved back to Australia in April 2021.
Lachlan Mumford, 19
Lachlan completed his HSC year at Emmanuel Anglican College in 2020.
His observant eye in developing his visual art skills produced a beautiful and moving major work that has been chosen for the HSC Art Express, an exhibition that showcases the highest calibre of Year 12 major works across NSW.
Although he was chosen for this work in photography, he is also a musician.
Lachlan is a violinist and has performed with the Lismore Symphony Orchestra.
Aside from his creative pursuits, Lachlan also inspired and led younger students at Emmanuel to participate and enjoy college events as the captain of Purcival House.
He received the Arts and Culture Award for Ballina Shire at the Australia Day Celebrations 2021.
The Buckleys (21, 20 and 18)
Country-pop trio The Buckleys are siblings Sarah Grace, 21, Molly, 18 and Lachlan Buckley, 20.
The young band has already gathered four Top 10 Australian Country Airplay charting singles with Daydream (at number 1), I’m Comin’ For Ya (Love) (at number 3), Money (at number two) and Breathe (at number three).
Originally from Byron Bay, the musicians started playing in the streets of Tamworth in 2011 when they were 11, 10 and 9 years of age, and they then made a pact to save for a trip to Nashville, Tennessee.
There they worked with two-time Grammy-winning producer and engineer Chad Carlson, whose credits include Taylor Swift, Jewel and the Hunger Games soundtrack.
They signed with Ballina-based Petrol Records in 2019.
The Buckleys will play live at the Tamworth Country Music festival on January 20, 2o22, and at Bluesfest Byron Bay on the Easter long weekend, April 15 to 18, 2022.
Alice Misty Boscheinen, 20
Lismore emerging dancer and actor Alice Misty Boscheinen performed with Sprung!! Integrated Dance Theatre in O, How I Dreamt of Things Impossible during its premiere season at Northern Rivers Performing Arts in 2020.
Ms Boscheinen and her carer, artist Kate McDowell, then developed and performed the show Into The Forest in 2021.
She attended Back to Back Theatre in Victoria for professional development and also trained with dancer Colleen Coy.
Recently, she has been working on new projects with Sprung!! and has continued developing her dancing skills with teacher Kimberley McIntyre.
She is also preparing to perform at the Sprung!! Gala at Lennox Head on November 14.
Mia Thom, 18
Mia was named the Byron Shire’s Young Citizen of the Year 2021.
Mia was accepted into the University of Sydney’s Wingara Mura 2019 Summer Program which is designed to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students get a feeling for university life and explore options for tertiary study and future careers.
Her Bundjalung heritage and ongoing passion and commitment to Indigenous rights have led to an intersectional approach to climate change, promoting Indigenous knowledge as one of the core solutions to issues.
Mia, who graduated from Byron Bay High School in 2020, achieved recognition for her leadership within the school and community.
Mia was a multiple Nanga Mai award winner, an accolade that recognises the academic excellence of Indigenous students at a state level.
It reflected Mia’s academic rigour, after she received the highest Indigenous Atar in the state in 2020.
She was of the organisers of the Byron Shire School Strike for Climate Change in September 2019 and January 2020.
Ryan Webb, 19
Alstonville teen Ryan Webb dedicates his time to helping others.
His big heart has taken him to help the elderly, homeless, lonely and less fortunate.
He donates to many charities and volunteers his time with Five Loaves and the North Coast Mental Health Support Group.
Aged 13, he travelled to Nepal where he helped to paint the homes of lepers.
Ryan also mentors young children in Alstonville.
He hates injustice and he wants to make his local community a better place and sue to that he was named Young Citizen of the Year 2021 in Ballina Shire.
TJ Kleeman, 13
Tweed River High School student Tj Kleeman spends time cleaning graves in a local cemetery.
Tj was four when she moved with her family into a house next to a cemetery.
Scared of ghosts, she began cleaning graves to overcome her fear with her younger brother.
The Year 8 student clears any dead flowers from the site, sweeps the leaves away and scours the dirt and grime from the concrete and tiles with a brush and soapy water.
She pays particular attention to the sites that don’t get visited because she feels as though she’s helping people in need.
Tj was awarded the Tweed Shire’s 2020 Young Achiever in Community Service award on Australia Day.
Madison Stewart, 26
Byron Bay-based conservationist and filmmaker Madison Stewart, also known as Shark Girl, seeks out shark-infested waters to capture stunning images.
Ms Stewart, who grew up on a yacht, traded textbooks for underwater cameras and now explores the world’s oceans, advocating for the protection of sharks through her photography and filmmaking.
She was named the Australian Geographic Young Conservationist of the Year 2017.
Blake Rhodes, 28
Lismore’s Blake Rhodes is a hip hop artist known for his innovative brand of electronic flavoured hip hop.
He is one third of award-winning hip hop trio Teddy Lewis King.
The band had a and support slot for Winston Surfshirt and a headline show in Sydney.
Mr Rhodes was one of three recipients of the Generations Fellowships from Create NSW, in partnership with Powerhouse Museum, in April 2020.
Northern Rivers Performing Arts show Flow, which was developed and performed earlier this year, was Mr Rhodes’s theatre debut as a composer and performer.
No Frills Twins, 26
They are the Lismore twins with an large online following and a unique sense of aesthetics.
Arna and Vanessa Rogers, 26, from Lismore, are the No Frills Twins.
Their YouTube videos over the years have given them an impressive international following, especially their 2015 song God Bless the Internet.
In 2017, the young ladies moved to Sydney after they were signed to Universal Music Australia.
Their latest single was Big Heart was directed by Chloe de Brito in 2020.
Amber Whipple, 23
There is one word that comes to mind when Byron Bay lifeguard Amber Whipple pulls on the iconic red and yellow - pride.
“I’m very proud to be a lifeguard, proud to be a part of it all,” she said.
Ms Whipple’s dedication to patrolling on the Far North Coast, her years of service and excellent attitude were recognised with the coveted title of Lifeguard of the Year at the 2021 Surf Life Saving NSW Awards of Excellence.
This summer, an even split of male and female lifeguards will patrol the Far North Coast Branch beaches.
Unfortunately, Amber will have to sit it out this year as she tore her achilles tendon just days after her accolade was announced in late August.
Holley Sommerville-Knott, 16
Lennox Head resident Holley Sommerville-Knott starting changing her world when she was only five.
She started The Global Care Project after noticing kids bullying each other, littering and generally not caring.
At eight she kickstarted the Stardust Foundation— a charity designed to promote health and wellness while helping people, animals and a planet in need.
Her ambitious desire to create change led to public speaking events worldwide where she got to speak alongside the likes of the Dalai Lama and Al Gore.
She became CEO of Tell Someone Who Cares, a global social enterprise that makes eco-friendly products, sponsors orangutans and creates sustainable alternatives.
She has won countless awards over the years including the NSW Government Green Globe Youth Sustainability Champion, Australia Day Young Citizen of the Year twice and become the youngest ever top-3 Finalist in NSW Young Achiever Awards.
She was further named the youngest ever Finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards in recognition for her deep passion for sustainability.
Dr Cooper Schouten, 28
Evans Head resident Dr Cooper Schouten heads up Bees for Sustainable Livelihoods at Southern Cross University.
Dr Schouten has three degrees with Southern Cross University — Bachelor of Environmental Science; Bachelor of Science with Honours; and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
In 2014, during his undergraduate Environmental Science studies, he received a New Colombo Plan scholarship funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to work in rural East Timor.
He worked closely with social geographer and researcher Associate Professor David Lloyd, and the two have since gone on to work on beekeeping research and development programs throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
After completing his Bachelor of Science with first class honours at Southern Cross, Cooper went on to do a PhD looking at the reasons why international aid and agricultural interventions work, and also why they don’t.
He works closely with Australia’s leading international agricultural research organisation the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research to improve the productivity, resilience and profitability for smallholder beekeeping enterprises in Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
Joshua Carpenter, 20
Originally from Tweed but currently living in Lismore, Joshua Carpenter created the Tackle Bin Project, an initiative to trial bait bins at three locations across the Tweed.
He received funding to install bins at a 10 other locations around the Tweed.
He has partnered with Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers to empty the bins, record data about collected fishing debris and track the number of reduced marine wildlife entanglements.
Now a student of Marine Science Management at Southern Cross University in Lismore, he received the 2019 Tweed Sustainability awards in the youth category.
Amelia Telford, 27
Former Lismore High school captain and proud Bundjalung woman has gone to incredible lengths to give her generation a voice.
In 2013, while working with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, she raised funds to create the Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network, an organisation that supports Aboriginal people aged under 30 who want to participate in environmental debates.
The fundraising effort resulted in her being named the joint NAIDOC Youth of the Year in 2014.
Her passion has given her a global audience and features in Australian Geographic and more.
She is also set to be a part of a Q+A panel to talk about the effects of climate change.
Nickolla Clark, 22
Nickolla Clark is already an accomplished artist at just 22.
She draws upon and celebrates her Arakwal heritage through her work.
Along with her sister Kaitlyn and other family members, she undertook a major project to visually tell Arakwal stories in murals at the new Byron Bus Interchange which was opened this year.
“We spent 10 weeks on site painting that mural,” she said.
It’s about 130m of art in total which depicts Arakwal country and totems.
She said it meant a lot to be able to work on country in a very significant place and to share her culture.
“That (culture) can get lost in the busy tourism aspect of Byron,” she said.
“That’s one of the things we thought was quite nice about the project.”
Ms Clark is passionate about actively celebrating and sharing her culture and educating people about how to respect Arakwal country.
She has studied horticulture, previously worked for Byron Shire Council and currently works in the field for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, something that allows her to care for country while soaking up more inspiration for her art.
While she has been participating in group art exhibitions since the age of 13, she is planning her first solo exhibit for next year.
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