Gladys Elphick Awards

Young Sister Rising Star Award

The Young Sister Rising Star displays leadership resulting in achieving meaningful outcomes through community engagement. She strives for continual improvement (personally, professionally, and academically). She initiates positive change that impacts on the wider community, and she conducts herself in a manner that leads by example and affords community respect. She is a role model to other young women and considers the valuable contribution and impact she can bring in the future to youth and community. 

Jakirah Telfer has displayed fearless leadership across many aspects of her life, including through public speaking, written articles, as the female lead dancer for Yellaka (Old Wisdom New Ways) and in her role as the youngest State Coordinator of the Yes23 Campaign. She has calmly, and gracefully initiated positive change among the broader South Australian community through her lifelong advocacy and activism, including her call for a Voice in the decision making on matters that impact our lives.

Jakirah has grown up with a family of strong matriarchs and, as she says, she 'fights for change, for justice, for positive outcomes for my people- it's in my DNA'. When she dances, she dances for both sides, and in her words, 'when I dance, I feel the spirit of our culture and our history, which has spanned over 60,000 years'. Jakirah is a humble young woman, a quiet achiever, who gently jumps into opportunities to bring people together, to elevate the voices of young Aboriginal people, and to greet people to the spirit of place.