The Future Chasers: Stories from Young Australians of Courage, Imagination and Will

by Jan Owen

Think you know young Australians? Think again. This collection profiles fifteen extraordinarily talented, inspiring and hard-working young people achieving amazing things in fields as varied as politics, industry, the arts, and technology. These uplifting and daring agents of change are turning generational stereotypes on their heads, proving that our country’s future is bright.

Compiled by the CEO of the Foundation for Young Australians, Jan Owen, the collection features absorbing interviews with Aaron Tait; Alissa Holton; Benson Saulo; Chris Raine; Elliot Costello; Holly Ransom; James Reade; Lucinda Hartley; Marita Cheng; Michelle Law; Nathan Murphy; Nishan David; Samah Hadid; Viv Benjamin and Yassmin Abdel-Magied.

Praise for The Future Chasers

‘The stories contained in this book are inspirational and fill me with awe. These are the stories of wonderful individuals whose energy, observations and involvement in the world provide examples to all of us, young and old. For me it won’t be enough to just read it once; I will need to read and re-read it, hoping to decant every last drop of inspiration and enjoyment that abounds.’ David Gonski AC, Chancellor of the University of NSW and Chairman of the ANZ Bank

‘I love the brilliance and uncapped thinking of this new generation. We are handing them a world full of complexity, rife with conflict and attached to a timeline that is ticking loudly. The Future Chasers showcases inspiring examples of those who will change the path humanity is walking.’ Audette Exel, Co-Founder, ISIS Group and CEO, ISIS (Asia Pacific) Pty Ltd

‘Leadership is not just a skill; it starts with a simple but courageous decision – to step forward when you see something that needs to change. These change makers are the leaders of tomorrow. I hope their courage inspires others to step forward too.’ Danny Almagor, Co-Founder and CEO, Small Giants

‘Our young people are exceptional, prepared to take on challenges and contribute to the community … but they can only do that when equipped with the right skills and support. That’s why we need to invest in them as a country. The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) has been leading the way, and has already seen incredible results. I’m thrilled to support Jan Owen and FYA.’ Mark Carnegie, Founder, MH Carnegie & Co, investor and philanthropist

‘I hope this book encourages a belief, in young and old alike, that acting to create change can work – and is, in fact, essential. Stories like those assembled here encourage others to think, act and celebrate achievement.’ Tanya Hosch, Joint Campaign Director, Recognise

‘Leaders demonstrate to their colleagues and the world that they have defined their own value set through reflection and reconciling their own strengths, weaknesses and reality. They then adhere to these values more stringently than those around them and this, in essence, is the seat of their leadership. This is what it takes to lead leaders and the people in this book are fine examples of the new breed.’ Dr Sam Prince, Founder and Director, One Disease at a Time, Zambrero and Mejico, Sydney

Genres: Nonfiction

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 14, 2014

About the author

Born in Adelaide, Australia, Jan Owen studied arts at the University of Adelaide, where she earned her BA. She raised her children and worked as a librarian, tutoring in the Library Studies Department at the South Australian Institute of Technology, before turning to her own writing. Her poetry collections include Boy with Telescope (1986), winner of the Anne Elder Award and the Mary Gilmore Award; Fingerprints on Light (1990); Night Rainbows (1994); Eating Durian (2002); Timedancing (2002); Poems 1980–2008 (2008); and the CD Laughing in Greek (2010).

Intellectually curious and wide ranging in her work, Owen contemplates family, travel, history, and childhood in both free verse and traditional forms. The Australian Poetry Review described her work as moving “from the microscopic to the cosmic; from the present to the past (and vice versa); from the local to the exotic; from the abstract to the embodied and from the act of representing to the act of meditating.”

Owen has received the Wesley Michel Wright Poetry Prize, the Max Harris Award, and the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize. She has traveled widely and was a fellow at Hawthornden Castle in Scotland. She has also participated in Festival International de la Poésie at Trois Rivières in Québec.

Reviews

[Kirby Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting. Engaging and above all inspiring. Age is just a number is completely proven in this book! Love this collection of stories. TY Jan and the Future Chasers.