SOUTHERN Highlands-born Jennifer Star (nee Purcell) has been named a Young Australian of the Year Award Finalist in New South Wales.
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Jennifer is one of four young Australians selected in NSW.
The daughter of two teachers, Jennifer founded an International Education NGO, Tara.Ed, at the age of 20. Now in its fifth year, Tara.Ed reaches out to more than 1500 underprivileged children in rural and remote areas of India.
The organisation of Tara.Ed was conceived to build star teachers to help students shine. By focusing on teachers rather than students, Tara.Ed aims to promote sustainability in education.
Jennifer's passion for India was ignited after being selected as a World Vision Youth Ambassador to India in 2004. She has since graduated from university and returned to India on numerous occasions, including a three-month stint living and working in the slums of Jaipur and an 18-month placement in Bangalore designing and implementing values education and life-skills programs for urban street children.
Jennifer is dedicated to building the Australia-India relationship and has led four successful Tara.Ed Teacher Tours to India, in which Australian Pre-Service teachers and education professionals had the opportunity to participate in a cross-cultural skills exchange with their Indian counterparts.
The program has also connected more than 2000 Australian and Indian schoolchildren, promoting tolerance and understanding of cultural differences.
Jennifer's determination spills over into other areas in her life. Alongside her development work, Jennifer is an elite athlete in the sport of Judo and has represented her state and country.
Her determination allowed her to win a bronze medal in the 2005 Youth Olympics with a broken leg, and she ranked 9th in her division in the World Championships in 2009.
As a result of her achievements, Jennifer was, in 2007, selected as one of only 75 Goldman Sachs Global Leaders worldwide. She is also the recipient of an Order of Australia Commendation Medallion for service to the global and local community as well as being named a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow.
Now 25 years old, Jennifer has been selected as one of 13 global educators to undertake a research dissertation at Oxford University.