Monash Business School celebrates excellence at 2025 Dean’s Student Awards
5 June 2025
From culturally safe healthcare to grassroots community support, these four students are using their skills in economics and enterprise to deliver real-world results.
Karinda Taylor (pictured above left), Anna Huynh, Prithviraj Rajesh and Stuart Hayes are recipients of this year’s major Dean’s Student Excellence Awards, which recognise outstanding success during the previous academic year.
Their stories demonstrate how purpose-driven leadership can create lasting impact.
Banking on inclusion
When Master of Banking and Finance graduate Prithviraj Rajesh looks at a business plan, he doesn’t just see profit; he sees potential.
In his postgraduate studies, Mr Rajesh focused on the transformative power of inclusive business.
As a consultant to the Mosaik Experiences social enterprise, he championed cultural safety and inclusion across diverse communities.
With the First People’s Wellbeing organisation, he worked closely with Indigenous leaders to co-design growth strategies that prioritise both cultural safety and economic empowerment.
He also led a social impact Hackathon team that developed scalable, Indigenous-led health initiatives combining commercial insight with cultural values.
Mr Rajesh said he was passionate about using financial models to unlock social progress.
“Real impact begins with how well we listen, honour, and respond to different ways of knowing and being,” he said.
“That is what keeps me focused - the possibility of building systems that are not only effective but also culturally safe and inclusive.”
Being named 2025 Future Global Leader Award (Postgraduate) recipient was a “proud and meaningful” moment.
“It reflects the kind of leadership I believe in: grounded, people-focused, and culturally aware,” he said.
His vision is to embed cultural awareness into the fabric of business practice.
“I want to shape strategies that reflect a deeper understanding of place, culture, and shared responsibility,” he said.
Policy with purpose
Final year Law/Commerce student Anna Huynh is fascinated by how macroeconomic policy can respond to the urgent challenges of climate change and sustainability.
Her drive to create positive impact has been sharpened by hands-on experience, including a global mobility internship at Ernst & Young, and policy analysis at Victoria’s Department of Treasury and Finance, where she contributed to the government’s response to the 2022 floods in Melbourne’s west.
A skilled communicator, she is Editor-in-Chief of the Monash University Law Review, and was part of the team that won the Law Student Society x Monash Association of Coding Hackathon for an AI-based immigration tool.
In 2023, she was awarded a scholarship with the Australian Centre for Justice Innovation to explore how AI could improve access to tribunals.
Previously a volunteer project manager with Impetus Consulting Group, Ms Huynh now contributes to research on climate investment strategies alongside Associate Professor Anke Leroux and the team at Monash Green Labs.
“The thread that ties all my projects together is my passion and motivation for harnessing technology and finding innovative solutions to problems that persist in society,” Ms Huynh said.
Her commitment to socially driven innovation has been recognised with the 2025 Future Global Leader Award (Undergraduate).
“Being named a Future Global Leader inspires me to continue exploring how my skills and areas of interest in law, economics and regulation can meld together to create solutions that apply to pressing global issues,” she said.
Healing Country, healing systems
Karinda Taylor sees healthcare as an opportunity to connect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with culture, support families and strengthen communities.
A Wamba Wamba woman and CEO of First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing, Ms Taylor is driving systemic reform in how care is delivered to Aboriginal families.
In 2023, she led the launch of Victoria’s first Aboriginal Early Parenting Centre, which provides culturally-grounded support during the critical early years of parenting.
She also established a social enterprise training café, Blak Fig, which creates safe spaces for connection and offers employment opportunities for Aboriginal people.
Now undertaking a Master of Indigenous Business Leadership, Ms Taylor is sharpening her advocacy for a system that centres culture, accountability and self-determination.
She believes Indigenous business can shape services that reflect the values and needs of Aboriginal people.
“Aboriginal-led and culturally-safe care is central to improving health and wellbeing outcomes for First Nations people,” she said.
Ms Taylor’s leadership has been recognised with a 2025 Dean’s Equity, Diversity and Social Inclusion Award.
“It’s an honour to be a recipient of this award and to have my leadership and commitment to Community acknowledged in this way.”
Belonging in Motion
What if inclusion could spread through a beach walk, a swim, or a simple conversation?
PhD student Stuart Hayes is turning everyday moments into powerful tools for belonging - both in life and at work.
Working alongside health and community partners, Mr Hayes helps people connect across social, cultural and physical barriers, without competition, cost, or expectation.
Rooted in a philosophy that small, meaningful interactions can spark big change, his approach is informed by his doctoral research exploring how real-time experiences impact longer-term belonging, flexibility and psychological safety outcomes.
While his research and events operate independently, they share a common belief: that micro-moments of connection can shape how we feel, think, and relate.
“Sometimes the smallest gestures - like walking beside someone or sharing a swim - open the biggest doors, and it gives me such a kick to see it in action,” Mr Hayes said.
“Watching a CEO, a student, and a councillor chatting and laughing together after a swim is a powerful reminder that we all matter and that we all belong.”
His quiet revolution in social inclusion has earned him a 2025 Dean’s Equity, Diversity and Social Inclusion Award.
“This award reinforces that inclusion doesn’t need to be formal, mandated, or serious. It can begin with simple, human interactions in natural settings.”
Celebrating academic excellence
This year, 1067 students have been recognised, including our top performers in undergraduate and postgraduate courses, standout achievers in individual units, and the Dean’s Honours and Dean’s Commendations.
View the full list of course awards and their sponsors
View course award recipients, plus Dean's Honours and Commendations