SOCIAL IMPACT
Editors: Anastasia Santoreneos
Photography: Cameron Grayson
Judges: Kim Randle, Sarah Liu
Jesse Waller, Matt Gordon
Age: 21, 21
Co-founded by Gordon and Waller (pictured) in 2023, InnerSteps is an app that helps children understand and manage their emotions. It combines leading clinical research with AI to create personalised stories that make building positive mental health exciting for children aged 3-12. It’s secured $200,000 in funding and was recognised as NSW’s Best Not-For-Profit/Community solution. Their mission is to be the go-to platform for early mental health problems.
Chanel Contos
Age: 25
Chanel Contos posted an Instagram story asking how many of her peers had experienced sexual assault while at school. The response was enormous – inspiring her to collect testimonials and lobby for consent education to be integrated and improved in schools across the country. She went on to launch the NGO, Teach Us Consent, lobbying for more comprehensive and earlier sex education in Australia and elsewhere. She was the recipient of the Young People’s Human Rights Medal in the 2021 Australian Human Rights Award and the NSW Young Woman of the Year 2023 award.
Awer Mabil
Age: 28
Socceroo Awer Mabil co-founded not-for-profit organisation Barefoot to Boots in 2015, which aims for better health, education, policies and gender equality for refugees. The Socceroo and former South Sudanese refugee supports refugees living in camps and their neighbouring host communities. BTB’s work focuses on Kakuma, a refugee camp in Kenya where Mabil and his co-founder grew up, and returns at least once a year. It has donated over 2000 kilograms of football boots and uniforms, educational materials, medical supplies and sanitary products.