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Future Shapers – Sydney's greatest innovators, trailblazers and community builders

Time Out's celebration of the individuals and organisations making lasting change in the city's arts, civics, sustainability, food and drink, and community and culture sectors.

So, what is a Future Shaper?

We joined forces with five esteemed cultural experts to help us find Sydney's best and brightest across five key fields.

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Arts

Serwah Attafuah

Serwah Attafuah

Part of a vanguard of creators on the bleeding edge of the cryptoart revolution, Attafuah is redefining the way we connect with digital art.

Scott Marsh

Scott Marsh

A creator striding the dual paths of the studio portraitist and the guerilla graffiti artist.

Nakkiah Lui

Nakkiah Lui

The Gamillaroi and Torres Strait Islander playwright and actor is one of the most relevant artists of her generation. 

Coby Edgar

Coby Edgar

Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Civics

Teela Reid

Teela Reid

Lawyer, activist and a proud Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman with a commitment to eliminating systemic racism.

Chanel Contos

Chanel Contos

The student activist has sparked a wake-up call in the way consent and sexuality are taught and discussed.

Sara Saleh

Sara Saleh

The celebrated poet and human rights activist has spent more than a decade championing her community.

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Food and Drink

Palisa Anderson

Palisa Anderson

The founder of the Chat Thai group is pioneering a more sustainable, less impactful way to operate a restaurant.

Matt Whiley

Matt Whiley

The man behind the world's first no-waste bar share his vision for a low-impact hospitality sector.

Palisa Anderson

The founder of the Chat Thai group is pioneering a more sustainable, less impactful way to operate a restaurant.

Palisa Anderson

Palisa Anderson

The founder of the Chat Thai group is pioneering a more sustainable, less impactful way to operate a restaurant.

Matt Whiley

Matt Whiley

The man behind the world's first no-waste bar share his vision for a low-impact hospitality sector.

Shaun Christie-David

Shaun Christie-David

The co-founder of Colombo Social is striving for a more socially conscious culture from Sydney's restaurateurs. 

Lee Tran Lam

Lee Tran Lam

Sydney-based journalist, editor and copywriter, Lee Tran Lam is challenging preconceived notions about food media.  

Josh Niland

Josh Niland

The founder of Saint Peter and the Fish Butchery is bringing 'nose to tail' seafood into the mainstream.

Sustainability

Jean Hinchliffe

Jean Hinchliffe

For eco-activist and leader of Australia’s School Strike 4 Climate movement, Jean Hinchliffe, the tragedy of the fires that incinerated millions of...

Clarence Slockee

Clarence Slockee

Based on Gadigal land, proud Mindjingbal-Bundjalung man Clarence Slockee has spent a lifetime advancing his knowledge of native bush food and Indigenous...

Jess Miller

Jess Miller

Councillor Jess Miller was elected to the City of Sydney Council as part of the Clover Moore Independent team in 2016. Miller’s key areas of expertise...

Community and Culture

Billy Kokkinis

Billy Kokkinis

In 1978, when gym owner Billy Moore offered Sydney’s LGBTQIA+ community the recently-opened City Gym as a safe space, at a time when homosexuality...

Billy Kokkinis

In 1978, when gym owner Billy Moore offered Sydney’s LGBTQIA+ community the recently-opened City Gym as a safe space, at a time when homosexuality...

Billy Kokkinis

Billy Kokkinis

In 1978, when gym owner Billy Moore offered Sydney’s LGBTQIA+ community the recently-opened City Gym as a safe space, at a time when homosexuality...

Emerald City Kickball

Emerald City Kickball

A sense of belonging is something we instinctively recognise as valuable. In fact, it’s a yearning that’s hardwired; the most primitive parts of...

Dwayne Bannon-Harrison

Dwayne Bannon-Harrison

A Yuin-Ngarrugu descendant with connections to the Yorta-Yorta, Dja Dja Warrup, Watchabolic and Gunai language groups as well as Scottish...

William Trewlynn

William Trewlynn

It was a chance meeting with a young man, a fellow Indigenous queer person who had fallen on hard times, that sparked something in William Trewlynn and led...

Focus on the future