Future Anything Educator Awards 2024 winners unveiled

2024 was a record year for Future Anything’s Activate in-curriculum school entrepreneurship program with over 7500 students, 300+ teachers in close to 80 schools across Australia and New Zealand bending the future, one youth-led idea at a time.

The Future Anything National Grand Final 2024, broadcast live from the The Triffid in Brisbane on 19 November, was a celebration of the most innovative, scalable, and sustainable student enterprise ideas, with school-age entrepreneurs pitching their for-purposes businesses live on stage. If that wasn’t enough, 18 student teams also shared with innovative ideas in a packed showcase expo.

In addition to celebrating the young peoples’ work, Future Anything also recognised the legends behind the students: their teachers.

The fourth Future Anything Educator Awards shone a spotlight on the teachers who’ve not only led Activate in their classroom but who have lived it through their own entrepreneurial approach to teaching and learning.

Nominations were received for teachers and teams in schools across Australia from Tasmania to WA to Far North Queensland.

The Future Anything Educator Awards 2024 winners were:

Trailblazer 2024: Mary Roberts, St Joseph’s School, Stanthorpe (QLD)

The Trailblazer award recognised an outstanding first-year teacher of Future Anything’s Activate in-curriculum entrepreneurship program.

The winner was Mary Roberts, from St Joseph’s School, Stanthorpe in Queensland.

Congratulating her on receiving her award, Dan Dempsey, Program Director, Professional Leaning at Future Anything said “Mary has been nominated as Trailblazer 2024 for many reasons including for securing the funding and investment to bring Activate to her the school.”

Dan added “She has received outstanding feedback from the students and has demonstrated an amazing ability to connect her young people to some incredible local entrepreneurs.” 

Other finalists celebrated in this hotly-contested category were Georgia Skinner (Canterbury College, QLD),  Jason Marchant (Queensland Academy for Health Sciences, QLD), Mel Coburn (Sheldon College, QLD) and Zoe Long (Servite College, WA).

Educator of the Year 2024: Rachel Noonan (Loreto Kirribilli)

The Educator of the Year award recognised an experienced Future Anything educator, one who not only ‘thinks like an entrepreneur’ in their own approach to teaching and learning, but has also built an enterprising culture in their students, staff and school community.

Winner of this always-competitive category was Rachel Noonan of Loreto Kirribilli . Rachel has worked closely with Future Anything for several years, recently collaborating with the team to embed Activate in a special conservation-focussed project in partnership with Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

On receiving her award, Rachel said “I’d like to congratulate all of the nominees for this award. I feel really privileged to be part of that community of people who were nominated. I’d like to say a huge thank you to Future Anything who have come along on this crazy journey. We’ve had the really unique opportunity this year to partner with Taronga Zoo which really gave our students an opportunity to dive really deeply with their problems and connect with those.”

Rachel closed by saying “I encourage all of the educators to think about the partnerships that you have in your communities and look for those opportunities to support your students.”

The other incredible finalists celebrated in the Educator of the Year category were Amanda von Kanel (Canterbury College, QLD), Jessica Rayner (Kenmore SHS, QLD), Susan McCowan (St John Fisher College, QLD) and Trudy Cory (Sheldon College, QLD).

Team of the Year 2024: Ferny Grove State High School (QLD)

The final Educator Award of the night recognised teams of outstanding Future Anything educators.

Their collective efficacy, positivity, and shared vision has led to the emergence/growth of an enterprising school culture, partnerships with the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem,  and/or engaging (and fun) opportunities for young people to bend the future; one youth-led idea at a time.

Against extremely stiff competition from Ascot State School (QLD), Canterbury College (QLD), Heritage College (SA) and Sheldon College (QLD), the coveted ‘Team of the Year 2024’ award was taken home by Ferny Grove State High School (QLD), whose Innovation Night and Enterprise Day have become a legendary part of the school’s annual Activate experience.

After thanking her team, Angela Dawes from Ferny Grove State High School said “I can’t tell you how great our kids are when they are part of these experiences, they thrive when they do Activate. I sincerely congratulate Nicole and her team for going from strength to strength in this wonderful program.”

Reflecting on the Educator Awards 2024, Future Anything’s Dan Dempsey said “Teachers in schools are the backbone of our Activate program.  They are doing incredible work to embed the program as a curriculum aligned, assessable unit of work over a term or a semester, making it a fundamental part the learning their students embark on. Without them, our young people would not have the support they need unleash their incredible passion and potential.”