Ashleen Khela, a Year 9 student at Galston High School, has taken out the Connecting Communities Award at the NSW/ACT 7 News Young Achievers Awards, recognising the teenager’s unusual mix of published author and community fundraiser.
The award singles out young people who build grassroots projects from the ground up — the kind that pull a community closer together, respond to a real need, and leave something lasting behind. Ashleen’s case ticks all three.
She’s already one of Australia’s youngest published female authors. She started writing at seven, working from real-life experiences around her, and by eleven had her debut book, 17 Stories, in print. Two more followed: Journey Through Her Jersey and Miles of Memories.
What set the first book apart wasn’t just her age — it was how she paid for it. Rather than ask for help, Ashleen collected and recycled bottles and cans and sold plants to cover the printing costs herself. Then, instead of keeping what she’d earned, she gave it away, sending donations to organisations working with disadvantaged children and struggling Australians, among them Cancer Council, Starlight, UNICEF and UN Women Australia.
Her three books are now stocked in more than 400 libraries in Australia and overseas, putting her stories in front of readers well outside Galston.
2025 has been a big year for the recognition to catch up with the work. Ashleen picked up the NSW Women of the Year Award in the Ones to Watch category for ages 7 to 15, handed to her at the International Convention Centre Sydney by Minister Jodie Harrison. That led to an invitation to afternoon tea with NSW Governor Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC at Government House. The Hills Shire Council also named her its Young Citizen of the Year for 2025.
Against that backdrop, the Connecting Communities Award feels less like a surprise and more like confirmation of something the judges — and by now, plenty of others — have already noticed.