The Hunter regions 30 most influential people 30 and under in 2021 revealed
They are among our youngest and brightest shining stars of the Hunter. These are some of the most influential young guns of the region.
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From local pollies to footy players, goalkeeping solicitors, radio announcers, innovators and even 12-year-old entrepreneurs, there is a wealth of young talent across the Hunter region.
These young, influential individuals are making their mark on the area through determination, drive and some pure skill in their chosen craft.
We’ve highlighted 30 of our young guns, who are 30 or under, making waves across the region — some you may know, some you’ll be introduced to.
Read their amazing stories and marvel at the next generation guiding our area into the future.
Declan Clausen, 29
The Newcastle deputy mayor is an energetic and vocal individual who is passionate about sustainability and equality.
At just 22, Clausen was elected to Newcastle Council in 2015 at a by-election and just two years later took up the role of Deputy Mayor alongside Labor colleague Nuatali Nelmes, being the youngest person to hold office of Deputy Lord Mayor in the city’s 220-year history.
The intelligent 29-year-old — who is proudly gay — has a Masters of Science in Sustainable Urban Development and a Bachelor of engineering (environment) from the University of Newcastle and spreads his time between a variety of local boards and committee’s.
A strong voice for the younger generation, Clausen never backs away from a controversial issue and well-known for calling out the behaviour of fellow councillors.
He loves a good dog park and spending time with his furry mate Toby.
Kupakwashe Matangira, 20
At such a young age she’s already an inspiration to most, and spent 2020 working as a child rights practitioner with Save The Children across rural NSW.
The human rights activist and global youth leader — who was born in Zimbabwe and moved to Australia when she was five — is a passionate advocate for children and young people, with an inspirational drive to make change and create a better future for the younger generation.
The Maitland local has recently been announced as the recipient of the 2021 Global Voices Freya Phillips National Scholarship and will participate in the next Commission on the Status of Women, hosted by the United Nations in New York in March 2022, representing the voices of Australian women and girls.
This driven young woman is passionate about giving young voices access to power because ‘ we are not just leaders of tomorrow, we are today’s catalysts of change’.
Jess Farchione and Angus Harper, 30
This power couple is well known in the Hunter.
As part of the popular Hit Newcastle breakfast team Jess is playful and quick-witted, and has gained the love and respect of listeners across the Hunter.
The Italian beauty, who won Best Newcomer On-Air at the 2017 ACRA radio Awards, graced the Newcastle airwaves in 2018 and has been a candid and refreshing personality alongside Nick Gill and Nick ‘ducko’ Allen-Ducat.
Publican partner Angus is also a familiar face in the hospitality industry, as co-owner of popular drinking hole The Greenroof in Hamilton and assists with the This That festival.
The loved-up couple met on Instagram and it ultimately led to wedding bells when they became husband and wife in April, their tuscan-inspired big day recently featured in Vogue magazine.
Ryan Callinan, 29
He grew up a few streets back from Merewether beach and learned to surf surrounded by legends such as Mark Richards, Luke Egan and Matt Hoy.
One of the most progressive surfers of his generation with electric airs, the goofy-footer is currently ranked 15th on the Championship Tour.
After battling on the Qualifying Series he made the cut in 2016, and surfed his rookie championship tour season in 2017, before in 2018 he had qualifying wins in Japan and Ericeira.
He’s one to continue to watch in the water.
Sharni Campbell, 25
This savvy businesswoman worked for Chandler Macleod before launching SC People in July as founder and director.
It specialises in real estate, property and financial services recruitment and aims to provide a “more than recruitment” service by building close, trusting relationships with both clients and candidates.
She’s also a co-founder of the Hunter Diversity & Inclusion Collective, and is a passionate advocate for the incorporation of best practice recruitment methodologies.
Sharni is also a participant in the 2021 HunterNet Future Leaders Program and is invested in the continued development of leaders within the Hunter region.
Brittney Lee Saunders, 28
The YouTube sensation has a staggering 606K followers on Instagram and is well-known as a social media and beauty influencer.
Her busy career started at the ripe age of 16 before she turned her passion for empowering women into her business, FAYT The Label — with a store in Maryville — and Staple Swim, brands that cater from sizes six to 20, spreading the message of inclusivity.
And there’s plenty happening for her next year with a new business venture coming on board. A coffee shop and creative studio are in the works in a space in Newcastle, below the Verve apartments between Hunter and King streets, called outdo collective and espresso. Watch this space!
Olivia Lorenz & Myla Tucker, 12
These two inspirational teenagers are starting early as savvy entrepreneurs, collaborating with Newcastle designers to launch a tween swimwear label.
Tired of not being able to find suitable swimwear, the Newcastle girls have taken it into their own hands, to create Cinnamon Cove, stylish and practical age-appropriate swimwear for their peers that supports active lifestyles and is kind to the planet.
The best friends only began the journey a few months ago, an idea hatched during Covid lockdown, yet their first design is set to launch in time for Christmas, with pre-orders already exceeding availability.
“So many of the designs out there are either too young and babyish or too skimpy. We just wanted something that reflects us, what we like to do and is suitable for our bodies,” Olivia said.
These amazing tweens, who just wanted quality, elegant products rather than disposable teen fashion, are proof that age is no barrier when it comes to achieving high.
Claire Coelho, 25
She’s a lady who has achieved quite a bit for her young age, juggling two very busy careers.
Claire is a Newcastle Jets goalie in the Australian W-League, and when she isn’t trying to save the ball from going in the back of the net, she’s in the court room as a criminal defence solicitor.
She played for the Jets from 2014 to 2017 and during a match against the Brisbane Roar in 2014, made 11 saves after replacing the starting goalkeeper due to injury.
The 25-year-old did move to Sydney FC in 2017 but came back to the Hunter where she has thrived.
Ben Mitchell , 29
At just 25 years old, Mitchell became the youngest councillor in Maitland’s history in 2017. And, as current Deputy Mayor he’s now taking a stab at the top job.
He is a mayoral candidate in the December local government election.
He grew up on a farm in rural Western Australia, before moving to Maitland and joined as a Liberal Party member.
He decided to run for council because he didn’t want to join the “keyboard warriors” and instead, actually do something positive for the town and be a voice.
The tradesman — a proud ‘openly gay’ councillor — is in the three per cent of councillors statewide that are under 30, with the office of local government recently enlisting his help in their latest campaign to encourage more young people to get involved in their local council.
The 29-year-old is never one to back down on issues he’s passionate about, including the transparency and conduct of councillors and the cost of living for ratepayers.
Kalyn Ponga, 23
The Newcastle Knight is an absolute superstar in the NRL, a name that most sporting fans, or even not, know pretty well.
The talented fullback — known for his trademark footwork — is cool, calm and collected on and off the field, stamped as one of the game’s best in the number one jersey.
The former North Queensland Cowboy made his NRL debut in 2016 before he joined the red and blue in 2018. He is signed with the club until the end of 2024.
The 2018 and 2020 Danny Buderus medal winner, and Queensland State of Origin staple, loves Newcastle and it’s beaches, hanging out with his mates and is a keen photographer.
Rugby league is not his only sporting talent, he’s handy on the golf course and represented Australia in touch.
Bal Dhital, Tim Keys, Dan Robson and Pat Prell, 25-26
Four friends and University of Newcastle students have been changing lives worldwide.
The group of innovators came up with a novel idea to tackle a global health issue, and created a clothing brand which is a solution to an annoying problem.
The awesome foursome hatched Borne Clothing, an initiative which came out of the the University of Newcastle’s Grand Challenge in 2019, to produce odourless, non-toxic mosquito repellent t-shirts and clothing.
Not just about fixing a problem that is bothersome, the group acknowledged the significant threat for the burden of health mosquitoes have worldwide, and wanted to do something about it.
At least half of the profits from the sale of the T-shirts also goes through ‘NothingButNets’ – a UN Foundation Grassroots campaign – to distribute a barrage of interventions for mosquito-borne disease.
Emily Bowen - 30
She’s one half of the ‘My Millenial Career’ podcasts, 2020 Best Business Podcast and Australian Podcast Awards Finalist.
As a manager at Forsythes Recruitment and HR in Newcastle, the 30-year-old is all about making an impact and achieving clever business outcomes through people, thriving on the variety and unpredictability of working in a client-led environment.
Emily’s popular podcast, as she puts it “adventure on the side”, explores the world of work, from resumes, pay rises and personal branding, and guides those interested about career self-reliance.
Her work on the podcast has been labelled “inspirational and empowering”, serving as a positive role model for other women, or anyone, navigating their career.
Giacomo Arnott, 27
The law and business graduate is a fiesty Port Stephens councillor, who’s not afraid to stand up for what he believes in.
The 27-year-old has lived and worked in Raymond Terrace his whole life, became a councillor at the age of 23, being the youngest ever elected to Port Stephens Council.
He has many strings to his bow, Giacomo is a professional firefighter with Fire and Rescue NSW and also does industrial/legal work for a union.
He’s been instrumental in improving communications with the local community and continues to improve transparency within council.
Big on fixing the LGA’s road network, he wants to see Raymond Terrace not forgotten and the stigma brushed off, and has a big presence on social media.
Isaac Heeney - 25
He was born in Maitland and played for Cardiff in the Black Diamond AFL competition before making a name for himself in the professional league for the Sydney Swans.
Heeney made his debut for the red and white at ANZ Stadium against Essendon in round one of the 2015 season and quickly became a crowd favourite.
The talented midfielder won the 2018 AFL Mark of the Year award, was selected in the AFL Players’ Association’s Under 22 team in two of his eligible four years and played his 100th senior game in 2019.
Liam Scanlon - 25
Just this year he has been ranked 13th in the top 50 for the brightest talents in the Australian e-commerce space.
Liam was three weeks into a marine biology degree at the University of Newcastle when he had an idea for a new venture, and set to work designing affordable men’s t-shirts, creating the brand Eat Your Water.
It aims to build awareness of social issues surrounding oceans, underscored by the tagline ‘do the right thing’ and after its first year built an Instagram following of more than 20,000.
The brand erupted with popularity into a multimillion-dollar e-commerce business and he now ships t-shirts across the world.
A massive success story right out of the Hunter.
Bradman Best, 20
His nickname is ‘the beast’ and since his NRL debut in round 23 of the 2019 season for the Newcastle Knights, Best has been sensational and quickly became a fan favourite.
Signed to the red and blue until 2022, the centre/winger who came up through the Newcastle ranks, easily cemented his first grade spot in the team in 2020 before an injury plagued 2021 season.
The popular Knight has notched up 12 tries in 31 NRL games and has even been floated as a potential NSW representative. Watch this space!
Ollie Margan, 29
He’s an award-winning bartender that has spent a long stint running popular cocktail bar, Maybe Mae, in Adelaide and gaining a winemaking degree in the city of churches.
But Ollie has gone back to his roots and returned to his family’s Hunter Valley property to reconnect with the 100ha of vineyards he grew up on and has recently released a set of five new wines under the Margan Wine label ‘Breaking Ground’.
He’s got national and international acclaim, named one of the top 10 most influential figures in the Australian hospitality industry, picked up Cocktail Bar of the Year for Maybe Mae and in 2017 and was named in the Drinks World Magazine Top 25 Australian bar influencers.
Safe to say at a young age, he’s already highly accomplished in his career.
Stephanie Jordan - 30
The local Novocastrian is a sales consultant at Dalton Partners and studied business at Newcastle University and has worked in the construction industry as a human resources officer for several years.
She’s the 2021 president of the Newcastle Business Club, showed her fancy footwork as one of the ‘Stars of Newcastle’, and even featured on an episode of ‘Selling Houses Australia’ in its 13th season.
She’s also a published author of ‘Selling Property Made Simple’ on how to maximise your property’s potential and take you from For Sale to Sold.
She’s known to be a hard worker and loves to get great results for her clients.
Nick ‘Ducko’ Allen-Ducat - 30
He’s one third of the popular Hit Newcastle breakfast team, after joining Jess Farchione and Nick Gill in January last year.
He’s got an array of radio experience, having spent most of his time with Nova Entertainment in Sydney, and has landed in the Hunter with listeners warming nicely to the flamboyant and cheeky personality, who seemingly loves to get his kit off at any chance.
Nothing seems off limits for this talkative lad, who is the son of well-known Current Affairs report Chris Allen-Ducat and loves his dog pandemic Pam.
In 2019, ‘Ducko’ also became the host of Smashdown, a national children’s TV program due to air on Channel 9GO!
Poppy Starr Olsen, 21
This year the talented pro-skater from Newcastle was an Olympian and achieved an impressive fifth overall in the women’s park skateboarding event at Tokyo.
She was Australia’s first ever Olympic skateboarding finalist.
She became world champion in the over-14 age group in 2014 and in over-15 in 2015, while in 2016 won the professional division of the Vans Combi Classic and became the first female Australian to compete in the Summer X Games.
When at home in the Hunter she likes to hit her local, the Bar Beach bowl.
Mitch McCormack, 26
A manager at Forsythes Recruitment and HR, he’s also the secretary for Hunter Young Professionals.
Mitch’s professional career has been spread between environments of varying sizes, from small business to an ASX200 listed corporation.
At the ripe age of 22 he was selected as one of six mentors in the national Vodafone Mentoring Program, which focused on building and developing the next generation of leaders within Vodafone.
Outside of work, he loves to enjoy the coastal lifestyle, loves his Aussie Rules and enjoys backyard simulation games with his border-collie cross, Puddin.
Jason Sangha, 22
He’s a young cricket gun who played juniors for Wallsend, and his family own the popular and well-known Darby street Raj’s Corner.
Now living in Sydney, the NSW representative and right handed batsman will remain at the Sydney Thunder for the 2021/22 big bash league series.
Sangha made his first class debut for Cricket Australia XI against England in 2017 and became the second youngest player to score a first-class century against England, second to Sachin Tendulkar.
In December 2017, he was named as the captain of Australia‘s squad for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
Sabre Norris, 16
The daughter of Justin Norris, this lively and popular teenager is a talented and accomplished skater from Newcastle.
She first captured hearts around the world when a YouTube video of her completing her first 540 trick on the half pipe at nine-years-old went viral and she became the third female in history and first Australian female even to land a 540.
She has a whopping 864,000 followers on Instagram and over a million on her YouTube channel ‘The Norris Nuts’.
Not only a local celebrity she is well-known all over the globe featuring on MTV, in Seventeen Magazine, the UK Daily and Huffington Post, and who can forget her memorable cameo on the Ellen DeGeneres show in 2016.
She’s also been the second youngest surfer to complete at the World Surf League event at the Sydney International Pro when she received a wild card entry and hopes to be an Olympian one day.
Tegan Martin, 28
She’s most known for being crowned Miss Universe Australia in 2014 before representing the green and gold at the Miss Universe 2014 pageant.
Tegan grew up in the suburbs of Charlestown and Jewells and became a full-time hairdressing apprentice at Pandora’s Hair Witchery.
The stunning beauty now lives in Sydney and is studying a Bachelor of Health Science and is also a qualified make-up artist.
The model has worked with the likes of Bras N Things, The Star Sydney, Kia Australia and the Victorian Racing Club and been a Red-Carpet Host for the AACTAs and ARIAs.
Tricia Martin, 26
This Hunter Young Professional is founder of Virtual Intern, a digital platform that connects the next generation of workers to their future work, via digital work experience.
In response to unemployment thanks to Covid, the Hunter region’s first online platform provides students with the opportunity to develop their skills and build work mindsets through interactive digital internships.
She’s a 2020 Technology IAward Finalist for digital innovation and Foundation of Young Australians Social Pioneer.
She also works in the Community Impact team at Ernst & Young, where she develops and delivers behaviour-change programs for students in Australia and 40 other countries.
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