Abbie Jane

Abbie Jane, from the remote town of Broken Hill, founded the Rainbow Shoelace Project in 2022 when she was just 12 years old. What started with Abbie giving away free rainbow beads for people to wear on their shoelaces to show their support for the LGBTQIA+ community is now a global movement, with more than 220,000 packets of beads given away in Australia alone. 

In 2023, Abbie attended World Pride in Sydney to represent the Rainbow Shoelace Project, was awarded the Regional or Rural Entrepreneur of the Year at the Teens in Business Awards, and presented at the Pride in Practice conference in Sydney. She was recognised as NSW Volunteer of the Year in 2021, and was a member of the NSW Regional Youth Taskforce and NSW Volunteering Taskforce in 2022.

Now 14, Abbie is a change-maker and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. Her ability to cultivate support for issues that affect her community and passion for driving change make her a real force for the future.