2025 GLOBAL AUSTRALIAN AWARD WINNERS
GLOBAL WINNER
Dang Thi Huong
Outstanding Alumni
An award-winning social entrepreneur and changemaker, Dang Thi Huong’s work bridges Australia and Vietnam through purpose-driven innovation and women’s empowerment. From humble beginnings in Vinh Phuc Province, Huong’s journey has been one of extraordinary resilience, leadership, and impact. Through the Australian-founded social enterprise KOTO, Huong gained vocational training, a scholarship to study in Australia, and the confidence to pursue higher education. After professional experience in Australia’s tech sector, Huong returned home to lead social impact programs, including the DFAT-funded Her Turn initiative for ethnic minority girls.
UK WINNERS
Jamie Samaha
Leadership & Entrepreneurship
Jamie is known for scaling Australian innovation internationally and driving major market growth. Originally from Sydney, he has a proven record of scaling Australian innovation globally.
Catherine hinwood
Community & Social Impact
Catherine has advocated for the rights of vulnerable communities in Australia, the United Kingdom and internationally. Growing up in Blacktown and witnessing discrimination towards the Indigenous population gave Catherine Hinwood a strong sense of social justice from a young age.
Edwin galea
Education & Research
A world-leading fire safety and evacuation expert, Professor Galea’s research and testimony have shaped major international disaster inquiries, including the Paddington Rail Crash, the Swissair MD11 crash, the Admiral Duncan Pub bombing and Grenfell Tower fire. Professor Galea is the founding director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) and the Centre for Safety, Resilience and Protective Security (CSRPS) of the University of Greenwich in London.
Jennifer Robinson
Finance, Law & Professional Services
Respected human rights barrister, Jennifer has had landmark cases spanning media freedom, climate justice and international human rights. A barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London, she has acted in key human rights and media freedom cases in domestic and international courts. Her diverse and groundbreaking work includes: representing Julian Assange and securing his release; successfully defending Amber Heard in the UK; achieving political asylum for West Papuan leader Benny Wenda; and taking climate change to the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice.
US WINNERS
David Droga
Creative Excellence
A highly influential creative leader in modern marketing and founder of Droga5, David is the most awarded creative in Cannes Lions history. He began his career in Australia at the age of 18 after receiving top honours at the Australian Writers and Art Directors School.
David Sinclair
Education & Research
One of the world’s most influential scientists in this field, Professor Sinclair has fundamentally reshaped how aging is understood, studied and treated. Born and educated in Sydney, Australia, he completed his Bachelor of Science (Honours) and PhD in Molecular Genetics at the University of New South Wales, before relocating to the United States as a postdoctoral researcher at MIT. Now based at Harvard Medical School, Professor Sinclair serves as a Professor in the Department of Genetics, where his pioneering discoveries have redefined the biology of aging.
Jennifer Nason
Finance, Law & Professional Services
One of Wall Street’s most renowned women in dealmaking, Jennifer has more than 40 years of global expertise in corporate finance, capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. With an exemplary track record of cultivating and maintaining intimate relationships with CEOs and boards, she has helped shape the operating and financing strategies of some of the world’s most innovative and competitive corporations.
Tirana Hassan
Community & Social Impact
A globally recognised human rights and humanitarian leader, Tirana is incoming CEO of Doctors Without Borders USA and former head of Human Rights Watch. An Australian lawyer, social worker and human rights advocate, Tirana is the incoming Chief Executive Officer of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) USA, and the former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. Across her career, she has led major global organisations dedicated to protecting human rights and delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance in some of the world’s most complex and urgent crises.
Jessie christiansen
Education & Research
Chief Scientist at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech, Jessie Christiansen is an Australian astrophysicist internationally recognised for her pioneering work in exoplanet discovery and cataloguing. A key member of NASA’s Kepler Science Office, she helped identify thousands of new worlds and contributed to the development of several NASA missions, including TESS, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory.
Margaret Simonian
Health & Life Sciences
A groundbreaking UCLA research scientist advancing proteomics and cancer biomarker discovery, Dr Simonian has an extraordinary personal journey from conflict to global impact. She earned her doctorate in Advanced Medicine from the Australian School of Advanced Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. She has served as a Research Scientist at Macquarie University and later as a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Neurology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Centre. Dr. Simonian has made significant contributions to both research and academic teaching in her field.
Tushar Apte
Arts & Culture
A multi-platinum and award-winning Australian DJ/producer/songwriter & composer, Tushar Apte is based in Los Angeles. His production & writing credits include lead singles and major releases with Benson Boone (on the platinum selling debut GHOST TOWN), Chris Brown, Demi Lovato, Blackpink, BTS, Zayn, Nicki Minaj, Noah Cyrus, Steve Aoki, Taking Back Sunday, Surf Mesa, and many more. Records that Apte have produced and written on have amassed over 3.5 billion streams. A true multi-genre, multi-format talent, he’s found success in Pop, Dance, R&B, Alternative and Film/TV. Tushar is an accomplished Flim and TV composer, having composed on shows for NBC (“Zooey’s Incredible Playlist”), BET (“The Bobby Brown Story” composed with Babyface), ITV (“BBQ Champ”), BBC (“Walking With Dinosaurs”, and others), Netflix (“Jr. Jams”) and many more.