Southern Courier’s top 20 influential: Numbers 15 to 11
FROM Clovelly to La Perouse and taking in Randwick, Mascot and Botany, the Southern Courier presents its power list of the area’s 20 most influential people in 2018. From fallen sports stars, to billionaires to TV royalty we assign them their number of influence.
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- Southern Courier's most influential: Numbers 20 to 16
- Southern Courier's most influential: Numbers 10 to 6
WELCOME to the Southern Courier’s list of our area’s 20 most influential people in 2018.
Our region is full of Sydney’s movers and shakers: from business leaders and influential sports stars and actors to politicians and pioneering academics.
Through the week we will be counting down the top 20.
Yesterday we brought you numbers 20 to 16. Below we reveal numbers 15 to 11.
Tomorrow we will count down 10 to 6 on the website and then on Friday we will reveal the top five.
We will also be running special video reports on our website each day.
Don’t forget to let us know what you think of our choices. Email editor@southerncourier.com.au
15 Sophie Smith
SOPHIE Smith has endured hardship of which many would never recover.
Her triplets died after being born prematurely in 2006. She then lost her husband and best friend, Ash, a few years later to brain cancer.
But what she has done since is remarkable.
She vowed to continue the legacy of her husband and children with her Running for Premature Babies Foundation, which has now raised more than $2.5 million.
Each year she enters teams into various running events and raises valuable cash as well as awareness of her charity.
She is an inspiration to many and proof that no matter how dark it may get there is also hope.
14 Doug Hawkins
COOGEE surf lifesaver Doug Hawkins has waded into the water and saved countless lives in his 30 plus years patrolling the beach.
But the junior development officer at Coogee Surf Life Saving Club, has also saved many lives thousands of kilometres away in India.
He helped set up the country’s first surf lifesaving club, a Beach Safety Centre in Mangalore, in southwest India.
Water safety is a huge problem in India with nearly 30,000 drowning deaths a year, accounting for 43 per cent of all drownings worldwide.
He hosts Indian lifesavers in Coogee and equips them with the skills they need at home.
He has been involved in the nippers and junior development at clubs across Sydney and continues to be a reassuring presence on our beaches.
13 Andrew Hore
THE Waratahs chief executive is on a one-man mission to make rugby union this country’s No. 1 sport. And he wants to do it right here in Daceyville.
Andrew secured the club’s move to David Phillips Sports Complex this season and has big plans for the next few years.
He wants Daceyville to be the epicentre of all that is good about the sport.
He recently told the Courier about plans for a world-class training facility in the suburb.
And he wants the community to be at the heart of his vision — with plans for a rugby museum, community centre and charity hub.
He is dragging rugby union up by the bootstraps and Daceyville will undoubtably benefit along the way.
12 Bill Saravinovski, Bayside Mayor
BILL Saravinovski has the unenviable task of running an amalgamated council nobody wanted.
But he now finds himself mayor of a large part of southeast Sydney, from Daceyville right down to Sans Souci.
He has just presided over a budget of $200 million and must get the residents of the former Botany council area on side — starting with the future of the aquatic centre.
His political opponents — and even allies — are watching on, waiting for him to stumble.
He’s sure got a job on his hands. No pressure then.
11 Nick Pappas
NICK Pappas is a lawyer by trade who has written a few history books on the side.
But he is better known as the chairman of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, as well as being a board member of numerous private and public organisations.
He has been a steady hand on the tiller during some of Souths’ most challenging years and the future now looks bright under his chairmanship.
He is also chairman of the Souths Cares charity program, chairman of the Bank of Sydney, president of The Hellenic Initiative, board member of The Steve Waugh Foundation, secretary of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Council and the list goes on …
He was a made member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2013 and looks set to be a major influencer for years to come.
See the rest of our list