Four outstanding Ku-ring-gai Local Citizen of the Year Awards nominees received their awards at a special ceremony on 26 January.
The awards are presented each year in recognition of groups and individuals who have made a significant contribution to the local community.
This year four awards were presented – Citizen of the Year; Young Citizen of the Year; Environmental Citizen of the Year and the Mayor’s Award for an Outstanding Contribution by a Community Group.
The awards were presented by Ku-ring-gai Council Mayor, Christine Kay and councillors at the recent Australia Day citizenship ceremony.
Ku-ring-gai’s 2025 Citizen of the Year was named as Madeleine Steel. When she became a parent Madeleine experienced first-hand the isolation and challenges that new parents can face. Three years ago Madeleine decided to set up the Empowering Parents in Crisis (EPIC) organisation, as a way of connecting those parents needing support and social outings.
EPIC now has nearly 400 members and its community outreach work has touched many lives in the local area. Last year EPIC created 1065 parent/carer connections, supported 709 people through a phone helpline, organised 24 walks for parents/carers and hosted 29 workshops and forums.
Mayor Kay said that all those receiving this year’s awards had demonstrated an outstanding level of commitment and a willingness to try new things as a way of reaching their community
“These awards are a great way for our community to thank and recognise these special people.”
“Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all the many hundreds of other volunteers who work round the clock to help the local people of Ku-ring-gai,” she said.
The Mayor’s Award for an Outstanding Contribution by a Community Group was presented to the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter, in recognition of its efforts to support women and children in crisis.
Every day, the shelter serves as a lifeline for individuals who are experiencing domestic violence, providing a safe space and essential services. The shelter also offers holistic support services that empower women to rebuild their lives such as access to financial advice, outreach services, counselling and other support services, the Council outlined in a statement.
Ku-ring-gai’s Environmental Citizen of the Year is Sofia Zvolanek. Since 2020, Sofia has been actively involved in the online platform Inaturalist, as well as volunteering with groups such as the Powerful Owl Project.
Within Inaturalist, Sofia contributed a staggering 25,306 observations, with 2,224 species recorded and 154,535 identifications across the platform. She has been involved in the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife and in 2023 was a finalist for the Nature Conservation Council ‘Rising Star’ award.
As an active member of BirdLife Australia’s Powerful Owl Project Sofia has collected data on tree heights and hollow dimensions as a means of better informing land managers on how to manage habitat.
Ku-ring-gai’s Young Citizen of the Year was named as Matthew Hayes. This young Turramurra resident was a student at Ku-ring-gai High School and is passionate about politics, public transport and planning and advocating for young people with disabilities.
Since leaving school, Matthew has been volunteering at the Sydney Tramway Museum and running his YouTube channel Aheadmatthewawesome which has nearly 2000 subscribers and over half a million viewers. Here he showcases transport, planning and infrastructure in NSW. What makes this achievement more remarkable is at a young age Matthew was diagnosed with autism and doctors thought he would be unable to talk at all.
One of Matthew’s greatest demonstrations of community leadership has been his contribution to the NSW Youth Parliament. Matthew was selected to be the Youth Member for Wahroonga and helped develop bills on a range of topics, including the creation of an alternative suspension program in schools. Matthew’s ability to connect with young people was exemplified with his peers electing him to the prestigious position of Youth Deputy Premier.
