Ricci Marks Aboriginal Young Achiever Award Announced

The outstanding achievements of 12 Victorian Indigenous young people have been recognised at the annual Ricci Marks Aboriginal Young Achiever Awards. 

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Jeanette Powell announced that Greg Kennedy from Reservoir and Samantha Walker from Bendigo were the 2011 Ricci Marks Award recipients.

Greg Kennedy, grew up in Robinvale, and moved to Melbourne to pursue training and employment.  He is currently working at Kangan Institute, and is studying a Bachelor of Business Management. Greg has aspirations to be a positive role model for other young people.

Samantha Walker lives in Bendigo, and is very active in her community organising various events and cultural activities. Samantha is a young mother who balances her family responsibilities with many community involvements and her studies in Health Science.

Each recipient will receive a $5,000 bursary to support their future learning and development.

Tamika Hayes, a 17 year old from Swan Hill received the Encouragement Award, in recognition of her voluntary activities in cultural education and youth events, and her commitment to her VCAL studies.

Nominees for the award, now in its 15th year, came from communities across Victoria, including Bendigo, Wangaratta, Swan Hill, Wedderburn, Wodonga, Warrnambool, East Gippsland and Melbourne.  

The award celebrates outstanding achievement amongst Indigenous young people. It is named after the late Ricci Marks, who was a recipient of what was then the Aboriginal Young Achiever Award in 2000. The Award title was changed to honour him following his death in 2003 at the age of 21.