- Published:
- Friday 18 May 2018
Social entrepreneur Dan Poole has been crowned the 2018 Victorian Young Achiever of the Year for his efforts to combat homelessness one crepe at a time.
The 24-year-old co-founded Australia’s first not-for-profit crepe van, Crepes for Change, which provides training and employment opportunities for disadvantaged Victorians and has raised almost $270,000 for the cause since 2015.
Minister for Youth Affairs Jenny Mikakos paid tribute to Mr Poole and the other award winners at a gala presentation in Melbourne yesterday.
She also used the opportunity to invite community organisations to apply for funding to help more young people achieve their goals by supporting them through education and training programs.
The Empower Youth program received a further $2 million in the Victorian Budget 2018/2019 and will allow at least a further four organisations to take part and fund youth workers.
In all there were 10 category winners for the awards, recognising their work in the areas of community service, small business, rural and regional health, arts, fashion and education.
The full list of 2018 category winners are:
- The Victorian Government Group Achievement in the Community Award, Happy Brain Education
- Saward Dawson Community Service and Social Impact Award, Nikolina Mabic
- Bartercard Online Achievement Award, Yuma Soerianto
- Academy Graphics Regional Achiever Award, Darcy McGlade
- Kangan Institute Inspirational TAFE Student Award, Tom Lobbe
- Berry Street Create Change Award, Dan Poole
- First National Real Estate Leadership Award, Dr Joanna Newton
- WFI Insurance Small Business Achiever Award, Maxwell Hertan
- Royal Flying Doctors Service Victoria Regional and Rural Health Award, Steffi Patience
- The Coffee Club Arts and Fashion Award, Frances Cannon
For more information on the Empower Youth program and how to apply for funding, visit youthcentral.vic.gov.au/get-involved.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Youth Affairs Jenny Mikakos
“Every young person and organisation recognised have given their time and energy to create positive, youth-led change in the local community – I thank them for it.”
“The Empower Youth program offers communities the opportunity to engage young people and support them to reach their full potential – I look forward to seeing these programs in action.”