This year, like every other, Ventures has been fortunate to have an incredible group of 11 Student Ambassadors and our Chief Student Entrepreneur, Yarra Kiselva. The Ambassadors include Candida Heissel Amalraj, Elouise Comber, Gia Hao Vo, Hein Reitmann, Jack Feng, Jussi Djachenko, Mritul Narayanan Rajesh, Sam Eghtedari, Sarah Abdulkalek, Yichen (Ellie) Dai who were there at every program and event supporting delivery and flying the Ventures flag.
We will be incredibly sad to see many of them move on but we can’t wait to welcome a new cohort in 2026. Ambassadors lead, inspire, and help shape the future of innovation at UQ.
The Chief Student Entrepreneur and Ventures Ambassador roles are now open for applications for 2026, offering UQ students a chance to play a central role in building UQ’s entrepreneurial community.
These are more than leadership positions. They’re opportunities to represent Ventures across campus, connect with founders, mentors, and industry leaders, while helping to inspire the next generation of innovators.
What Ventures Ambassadors Do
Ventures Ambassadors are the heartbeat of our programs, connecting students to opportunities, supporting events, and helping bring the spirit of innovation to every corner of campus.
In 2025, our Ambassadors:
- Delivered 112+ program sessions
- Spoke with over 6,000 students across O-Week, workshops, and events
- Helped deliver 26 Ventures events, including hackathons, pitch nights, and showcases
- Worked over 600 hours across Ventures activities
As an Ambassador, you’ll:
- Represent Ventures within your faculty
- Help deliver and promote programs
- Lead community engagement across campus
- Learn from the Ventures team
“Ambassadors are the top tier of students who have taken part in our programs. They’ve shown up week in, week out and are already making the most out of all the opportunities available to them at UQ.
We want to work closely with these students to give them skills and connections that can help them with their own entrepreneurial journey or help them stand out when applying for jobs. Being a Ventures Ambassador is something we want students to aspire to."
- Gav Parry, UQ Ventures Manager
Chief Student Entrepreneur
The Chief Student Entrepreneur is the public face of Ventures, representing UQ’s student innovation community and inspiring others to explore entrepreneurship.
In 2025, Yarra Kiseleva, founder of Seatfinder, used her platform to champion student founders and share her journey from law student to startup founder.
As Chief Student Entrepreneur, Yarra:
- Met with the Queensland Minister for Education
- Represented Ventures at Brisbane City Council Founder Forums
- Delivered the opening address at the Startup Showcase
- Mentored fellow students through Ventures programs
"Being the 2025 Chief Student Entrepreneur at Ventures meant earning a seat in the rooms where the future of innovation is shaped. Every conversation this year, from founders to policymakers, reinforced one truth: real impact starts when students stop waiting for permission."
Ventures Manager Gav Parry highlighted the role Yarra played, saying "Getting to know Yarra over the last 12 months has been incredibly inspiring. Seeing a student who is so curious and interested in not only the world but themselves is really cool. I’m going to miss the texts for advice or just to bounce ideas around. I do feel we’ve seen her really grow over the last year and I feel very grateful to have been a small part of her journey. There’s no doubt in my mind that Yarra is going to squeeze everything she can out of life, I can’t wait to see where that takes her."
Previous Chief Student Entrepreneurs have included:
- Jack Feng
- Finn Larson
- Tom Bizzell
- Rachel Huang
- Rachael Dagge
- Josh Tambunan
- Ben Coughlin
Quotes from our 2025 Ambassadors
“As a UQ Ventures Ambassador, I think it's about being a bridge between you, students, and the startup ecosystem in UQ and Queensland. It's about being part of this community where you're a student yourself and you also want to pay it forward because we, as ambassadors, have a bit more knowledge around it, and we want to be able to help students. At the end of the day, I think a lot of them think that startups are like this untouchable thing, but we want to basically help them navigate through this and let them know it’s not that hard you just have to put yourself out there.”
Elly Dai, Business and Journalism student, UQ Ventures Ambassador
“To someone thinking of applying, I would say definitely go for it. It's so rewarding seeing students all the way from the start and growing so much throughout our programs, and jumping from program to program, starting from Curiosity and then going through all the UQ Ventures programs. It's also an amazing team to work with, and you have so many amazing opportunities for networking as well as for your own professional growth.”
Elouise Comber, PhD student, UQ Ventures Ambassador.
Applications Now Open
Applications for the 2026 Ventures Ambassador and Chief Student Entrepreneur roles are open now.
Apply by: Monday 10 November 2025
