At the age of 22, ANU student Charlotte Young has been named one of the nation's top leaders and most influential Asian-Australians.
She was named the overall winner in the Asian-Australian Leadership Awards at a ceremony in Sydney.
Labor Senator Penny Wong received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Asian-Australian Leadership Awards, now in its sixth year, is an initiative of Asialink at the University of Melbourne and executive search firm Johnson Partners.
Charlotte, who lives at Burgmann College and is studying double degrees in politics, philosophy and economics, has a 50 per cent hearing loss but has never let her disability stop her from achieving, advocating for change or helping her community.
She has worked as an inclusivity consultant to national and international organisations including the Australian government, UNICEF and the US Embassy.
The young leader also started the ANU Auslan Club, providing subsidised sign language classes to students.
Receiving the Asian-Australian Leadership Award was "such an honour".
"For me, my work is focused on the community, rather than the self," Charlotte said.
"I just want to do something good with the privilege I've been given."
Originally from Melbourne, Charlotte moved to Canberra to study in 2021. Her father is from Hong Kong, migrating to Australia as a child, while her mother has an Irish-Lebanese background.
Charlotte said she knew her father, who came to Australia when the White Australia Policy was still in force, had a tougher time than she did because of his Asian background.
She, however, had never felt any discrimination because of her disability (she wears hearing aids) or her ethnicity and regarded herself as a happy blend of both her parents' backgrounds.
"I feel now being an Asian-Australian, we are so much more accepted and it's about linking arms and being part of the community," Charlotte said.
Diagnosed with hearing loss in both ears at the age of four, Charlotte said she got through school with the help of hearing aids and a deaf integration program.
She never learnt Auslan or sign language until she helped to establish the ANU club in 2023. She began to learn sign language alongside her fellow students, most of whom were not deaf but wanted to learn the skill.
The club quickly taught more than 250 students and increased the overall number of signers in the ACT by 5 per cent.
Thanks to their efforts, the ANU Auslan Club received the Group Achievement Award in the 2023 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year Awards.
"It was so nice to walk around campus and see people signing to each other," she said.
While Charlotte had not felt any discrimination, others who have been recognised previously by the Asian-Australian Leadership Awards said they had been.
A survey of previous winners, over the past six years, found 93 per cent believed their Asian-Australian heritage has been a barrier to their success, while 81 per cent said they'd been held back or overlooked for a promotion due to their cultural heritage.
Asialink Chief Executive Martine Letts said it was disappointing "such a bias against Asian-Austraians still existed in workplaces".
"One in five people in Australia have an Asian cultural heritage, yet we do not see them equally represented in leadership roles in the workplace - only 3 per cent of senior management positions are held by Asian-Australians,'' Ms Letts said.
The data also showed that while 83 per cent aspired to take on a more senior leadership role at work, more than half said there weren't any other Asian-Australians holding management roles in their workplace.
"The awards seek to reshape the debate and confront Australia's 'bamboo ceiling' - the underrepresentation of Asian-Australians in leadership positions," Ms Letts added.
"It's very difficult to break through that bamboo ceiling if your identity and cultural heritage hold you back from professional progression.
"Australian businesses are trying to be more culturally diverse, but we need more than just lip service."
